Inter-Client Exchange Library (original) (raw)

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Chapter 1. Overview of ICE

There are numerous possible inter-client protocols, with many similarities and common needs - authentication, version negotiation, byte order negotiation, and so on. The Inter-Client Exchange (ICE) protocol is intended to provide a framework for building such protocols, allowing them to make use of common negotiation mechanisms and to be multiplexed over a single transport connection.

Chapter 2. The ICE Library - C Language Interface to ICE

A client that wishes to utilize ICE must first register the protocols it understands with the ICE library. Each protocol is dynamically assigned a major opcode ranging from 1-255 (two clients can use different major opcodes for the same protocol). The next step for the client is either to open a connection with another client or to wait for connections made by other clients. Authentication may be required. A client can both initiate connections with other clients and be waiting for clients to connect to itself (a nested session manager is an example). Once an ICE connection is established between the two clients, one of the clients needs to initiate aProtocolSetupin order to "activate" a given protocol. Once the other client accepts theProtocolSetup(once again, authentication may be required), the two clients are ready to start passing messages specific to that protocol to each other. Multiple protocols may be active on a single ICE connection. Clients are responsible for notifying the ICE library when a protocol is no longer active on an ICE connection, although ICE does not define how each subprotocol triggers a protocol shutdown.

The ICE library utilizes callbacks to process incoming messages. Using callbacks allowsProtocolSetupmessages and authentication to happen behind the scenes. An additional benefit is that messages never need to be buffered up by the library when the client blocks waiting for a particular message.

Chapter 3. Intended Audience

This document is intended primarily for implementors of protocol libraries layered on top of ICE. Typically, applications that wish to utilize ICE will make calls into individual protocol libraries rather than directly make calls into the ICE library. However, some applications will have to make some initial calls into the ICE library in order to accept ICE connections (for example, a session manager accepting connections from clients). But in general, protocol libraries should be designed to hide the inner details of ICE from applications.

Chapter 4. Header Files and Library Name

The header file <X11/ICE/ICElib.h> defines all of the ICElib data structures and function prototypes.ICElib.hincludes the header file <X11/ICE/ICE.h>, which defines all of the ICElib constants. Protocol libraries that need to read and write messages should include the header file <X11/ICE/ICEmsg.h>.

Applications should link against ICElib using -lICE.

Chapter 5. Note on Prefixes

The following name prefixes are used in the library to distinguish between a client that initiates aProtocolSetupand a client that responds with aProtocolReply

Chapter 6. Protocol Registration

In order for two clients to exchange messages for a given protocol, each side must register the protocol with the ICE library. The purpose of registration is for each side to obtain a major opcode for the protocol and to provide callbacks for processing messages and handling authentication. There are two separate registration functions:

It is recommended that protocol registration occur before the two clients establish an ICE connection. If protocol registration occurs after an ICE connection is created, there can be a brief interval of time in which aProtocolSetupis received, but the protocol is not registered. If it is not possible to register a protocol before the creation of an ICE connection, proper precautions should be taken to avoid the above race condition.

The IceRegisterForProtocolSetupfunction should be called for the client that initiates aProtocolSetup

int **IceRegisterForProtocolSetup**(const char *protocol_name, const char *vendor, const char *release, int version_count, IcePoVersionRec *version_recs, int auth_count, char **auth_names, IcePoAuthProc *auth_procs, IceIOErrorProc io_error_proc);

protocol_name A string specifying the name of the protocol to register.
vendor A vendor string with semantics specified by the protocol.
release A release string with semantics specified by the protocol.
version_count The number of different versions of the protocol supported.
version_recs List of versions and associated callbacks.
auth_count The number of authentication methods supported.
auth_names The list of authentication methods supported.
auth_procs The list of authentication callbacks, one for each authentication method.
io_error_proc IO error handler, or NULL.

IceRegisterForProtocolSetup returns the major opcode reserved or -1 if an error occurred. In order to actually activate the protocol, the IceProtocolSetupfunction needs to be called with this major opcode. Once the protocol is activated, all messages for the protocol should be sent using this major opcode.

A protocol library may support multiple versions of the same protocol. The version_recs argument specifies a list of supported versions of the protocol, which are prioritized in decreasing order of preference. Each version record consists of a major and minor version of the protocol as well as a callback to be used for processing incoming messages.

typedef struct {
int major_version;
int minor_version;
IcePoProcessMsgProc process_msg_proc;
} IcePoVersionRec;

TheIcePoProcessMsgProccallback is responsible for processing the set of messages that can be received by the client that initiated theProtocolSetupFor further information, seeCallbacks for Processing Messages

Authentication may be required before the protocol can become active. The protocol library must register the authentication methods that it supports with the ICE library. The auth_names and auth_procs arguments are a list of authentication names and callbacks that are prioritized in decreasing order of preference. For information on theIcePoAuthProccallback, seeAuthentication Methods

The IceIOErrorProccallback is invoked if the ICE connection unexpectedly breaks. You should pass NULL for io_error_proc if not interested in being notified. For further information,Error Handling

TheIceRegisterForProtocolReplyfunction should be called for the client that responds to aProtocolSetupwith aProtocolReply

Bool **IceRegisterForProtocolReply**(const char *protocol_name, const char *vendor, const char *release, int version_count, IcePoVersionRec *version_recs, int auth_count, const char **auth_names, IcePoAuthProc *auth_procs, IceHostBasedAuthProc host_based_auth_proc, IceProtocolSetupProc protocol_setup_proc, IceProtocolActivateProc protocol_activate_proc, IceIOErrorProc io_error_proc);

protocol_name A string specifying the name of the protocol to register.
vendor A vendor string with semantics specified by the protocol.
release A release string with semantics specified by the protocol.
version_count The number of different versions of the protocol supported.
version_recs List of versions and associated callbacks.
auth_count The number of authentication methods supported.
auth_names The list of authentication methods supported.
auth_procs The list of authentication callbacks, one for each authentication method.
host_based_auth_proc Host based authentication callback.
protocol_setup_proc A callback to be invoked when authentication has succeeded for aProtocolSetupbut before theProtocolReplyis sent.
protocol_activate_proc A callback to be invoked after theProtocolReplyis sent.
io_error_proc IO error handler, or NULL.

IceRegisterForProtocolReplyreturns the major opcode reserved or -1 if an error occurred. The major opcode should be used in all subsequent messages sent for this protocol.

A protocol library may support multiple versions of the same protocol. The version_recs argument specifies a list of supported versions of the protocol, which are prioritized in decreasing order of preference. Each version record consists of a major and minor version of the protocol as well as a callback to be used for processing incoming messages.

typedef struct {
int major_version;
int minor_version;
IcePaProcessMsgProc process_msg_proc;
} IcePaVersionRec;

TheIcePaProcessMsgProccallback is responsible for processing the set of messages that can be received by the client that accepted theProtocolSetupFor further information, seeCallbacks for Processing Messages

Authentication may be required before the protocol can become active. The protocol library must register the authentication methods that it supports with the ICE library. The auth_names and auth_procs arguments are a list of authentication names and callbacks that are prioritized in decreasing order of preference. For information on theIcePaAuthProc, SeeAuthentication Methods

If authentication fails and the client attempting to initiate theProtocolSetuphas not required authentication, theIceHostBasedAuthProccallback is invoked with the host name of the originating client. If the callback returnsTruetheProtocolSetupwill succeed, even though the original authentication failed. Note that authentication can effectively be disabled by registering anIceHostBasedAuthProcwhich always returnsTrueIf no host based authentication is allowed, you should pass NULL for host_based_auth_proc.

Bool **HostBasedAuthProc**(char *host_name);

protocol_name The host name of the client that sent the ProtocolSetup

The host_name argument is a string of the form protocol/hostname, where protocol is one of {tcp, decnet, local}.

BecauseProtocolSetupmessages and authentication happen behind the scenes via callbacks, the protocol library needs some way of being notified when theProtocolSetuphas completed. This occurs in two phases. In the first phase, theIceProtocolSetupProccallback is invoked after authentication has successfully completed but before the ICE library sends aProtocolReplyAny resources required for this protocol should be allocated at this time. If theIceProtocolSetupProcreturns a successful status, the ICE library will send theProtocolReplyand then invoke theIceProtocolActivateProccallback. Otherwise, an error will be sent to the other client in response to theProtocolSetup

TheIceProtocolActivateProcis an optional callback and should be registered only if the protocol library intends to generate a message immediately following theProtocolReplyYou should pass NULL for protocol_activate_proc if not interested in this callback.

Status **ProtocolSetupProc**(IceConn ice_conn, int major_version, int minor_version, char *vendor, char *release, IcePointer *client_data_ret, char **failure_reason_ret);

protocol_name The ICE connection object.
major_version The major version of the protocol.
minor_version The minor version of the protocol.
vendor The vendor string registered by the protocol originator.
release The release string registered by the protocol originator.
client_data_ret Client data to be set by callback.
failure_reason_ret Failure reason returned.

The pointer stored in the client_data_ret argument will be passed to theIcePaProcessMsgProccallback whenever a message has arrived for this protocol on the ICE connection.

The vendor and release strings should be freed withfreewhen they are no longer needed.

If a failure occurs, theIceProtocolSetupProcshould return a zero status as well as allocate and return a failure reason string in failure_reason_ret. The ICE library will be responsible for freeing this memory.

TheIceProtocolActivateProccallback is defined as follows:

void **ProtocolActivateProc**(IceConn ice_conn, IcePointer client_data);

ice_conn The ICE connection object.
client_data The client data set in the IceProtocolSetupProc callback.

The IceIOErrorProccallback is invoked if the ICE connection unexpectedly breaks. You should pass NULL for io_error_proc if not interested in being notified. For further information, seeError Handling

Callbacks for Processing Messages

When an application detects that there is new data to read on an ICE connection (viaselectit calls theIceProcessMessagesfunctionProcessing MessagesWhenIceProcessMessagesreads an ICE message header with a major opcode other than zero (reserved for the ICE protocol), it needs to call a function that will read the rest of the message, unpack it, and process it accordingly.

If the message arrives at the client that initiated theProtocolSetuptheIcePoProcessMsgProccallback is invoked.

void **PoProcessMsgProc**(IceConn ice_conn, IcePointer client_data, int opcode, unsigned long length, Bool swap, IceReplyWaitInfo *reply_wait, Bool *reply_ready_ret);

ice_conn The ICE connection object.
client_data Client data associated with this protocol on the ICE connection.
opcode The minor opcode of the message.
length The length (in 8-byte units) of the message beyond the ICE header.
swap A flag that indicates if byte swapping is necessary.
reply_wait Indicates if the invoking client is waiting for a reply.
reply_ready_ret If set toTruea reply is ready.

If the message arrives at the client that accepted theProtocolSetuptheIcePaProcessMsgProccallback is invoked.

void **IcePaProcessMsgProc**(IceConn ice_conn, IcePointer client_data, int opcode, unsigned long length, Bool swap);

ice_conn The ICE connection object.
client_data Client data associated with this protocol on the ICE connection.
opcode The minor opcode of the message.
length The length (in 8-byte units) of the message beyond the ICE header.
swap A flag that indicates if byte swapping is necessary.

In order to read the message, both of these callbacks should use the macros defined for this purpose (seeReading ICE Messages.). Note that byte swapping may be necessary. As a convenience, the length field in the ICE header will be swapped by ICElib if necessary.

In both of these callbacks, the client_data argument is a pointer to client data that was registered atProtocolSetuptime. In the case ofIcePoProcessMsgProcthe client data was set in the call toIceProtocolSetupIn the case ofIcePaProcessMsgProcthe client data was set in theIceProtocolSetupProccallback.

TheIcePoProcessMsgProccallback needs to check the reply_wait argument. If reply_wait is NULL , the ICE library expects the function to pass the message to the client via a callback. For example, if this is a Session Management "Save Yourself" message, this function should notify the client of the "Save Yourself" via a callback. The details of how such a callback would be defined are implementation-dependent.

However, if reply_wait is not NULL , then the client is waiting for a reply or an error for a message it previously sent. The reply_wait is of typeIceReplyWaitInfo

typedef struct {
unsigned long sequence_of_request;
int major_opcode_of_request;
int minor_opcode_of_request;
IcePointer reply;
} IceReplyWaitInfo;

IceReplyWaitInfocontains the major/minor opcodes and sequence number of the message for which a reply is being awaited. It also contains a pointer to the reply message to be filled in (the protocol library should cast thisIcePointerto the appropriate reply type). In most cases, the reply will have some fixed-size part, and the client waiting for the reply will have provided a pointer to a structure to hold this fixed-size data. If there is variable-length data, it would be expected that theIcePoProcessMsgProccallback will have to allocate additional memory and store pointer(s) to that memory in the fixed-size structure. If the entire data is variable length (for example., a single variable-length string), then the client waiting for the reply would probably just pass a pointer to fixed-size space to hold a pointer, and theIcePoProcessMsgProccallback would allocate the storage and store the pointer. It is the responsibility of the client receiving the reply to free any memory allocated on its behalf.

If reply_wait is not NULL andIcePoProcessMsgProchas a reply or error to return in response to this reply_wait (that is, no callback was generated), then the reply_ready_ret argument should be set toTrueNote that an error should only be returned if it corresponds to the reply being waited for. Otherwise, theIcePoProcessMsgProcshould either handle the error internally or invoke an error handler for its library.

If reply_wait is NULL, then care must be taken not to store any value in reply_ready_ret, because this pointer may also be NULL.

TheIcePaProcessMsgProccallback, on the other hand, should always pass the message to the client via a callback. For example, if this is a Session Management "Interact Request" message, this function should notify the client of the "Interact Request" via a callback.

The reason theIcePaProcessMsgProccallback does not have a reply_wait, likeIcePoProcessMsgProcdoes, is because a process that is acting as a server should never block for a reply (infinite blocking can occur if the connecting client does not act properly, denying access to other clients).

Authentication Methods

As already stated, a protocol library must register the authentication methods that it supports with the ICE library. For each authentication method, there are two callbacks that may be registered:

IcePoAuthProcis the callback invoked for the client that initiated theProtocolSetupThis callback must be able to respond to the initial "Authentication Required" message or subsequent "Authentication Next Phase" messages sent by the other client.

IcePoAuthStatus **IcePoAuthStatus** (IceConn ice_conn, IcePointer client_data, int opcode);

ice_conn The ICE connection object.
auth_state_ptr A pointer to state for use by the authentication callback procedure.
clean_up IfTrueauthentication is over, and the function should clean up any state it was maintaining. The last 6 arguments should be ignored.
swap IfTruethe auth_data may have to be byte swapped (depending on its contents).
auth_datalen The length (in bytes) of the authenticator data.
auth_data The data from the authenticator.
reply_datalen_ret The length (in bytes) of the reply data returned.
reply_data_ret The reply data returned.
error_string_ret If the authentication procedure encounters an error during authentication, it should allocate and return an error string.

Authentication may require several phases, depending on the authentication method. As a result, theIcePoAuthProcmay be called more than once when authenticating a client, and some state will have to be maintained between each invocation. At the start of eachProtocolSetup*auth_state_ptr is NULL, and the function should initialize its state and set this pointer. In subsequent invocations of the callback, the pointer should be used to get at any state previously stored by the callback.

If needed, the network ID of the client accepting theProtocolSetupcan be obtained by calling theIceConnectionStringfunction.

ICElib will be responsible for freeing the reply_data_ret and error_string_ret pointers withfree

The auth_data pointer may point to a volatile block of memory. If the data must be kept beyond this invocation of the callback, be sure to make a copy of it.

TheIcePoAuthProcshould return one of four values:

IcePaAuthProcis the callback invoked for the client that received theProtocolSetup

IcePoAuthStatus **PoAuthStatus** (IceConn ice_conn, IcePointer *auth_state_ptr, Bool swap, int auth_datalen, IcePointer auth_data, int *reply_datalen_ret, IcePointer *reply_data_ret, char **error_string_ret);

ice_conn The ICE connection object.
auth_state_ptr A pointer to state for use by the authentication callback procedure.
swap IfTrueauth_data may have to be byte swapped (depending on its contents).
auth_datalen The length (in bytes) of the protocol originator authentication data.
auth_data The authentication data from the protocol originator.
reply_datalen_ret The length of the authentication data returned.
reply_data_ret The authentication data returned.
error_string_ret If authentication is rejected or fails, an error string is returned.

Authentication may require several phases, depending on the authentication method. As a result, theIcePaAuthProcmay be called more than once when authenticating a client, and some state will have to be maintained between each invocation. At the start of eachProtocolSetupauth_datalen is zero, *auth_state_ptr is NULL, and the function should initialize its state and set this pointer. In subsequent invocations of the callback, the pointer should be used to get at any state previously stored by the callback.

If needed, the network ID of the client accepting theProtocolSetupcan be obtained by calling theIceConnectionStringfunction.

The auth_data pointer may point to a volatile block of memory. If the data must be kept beyond this invocation of the callback, be sure to make a copy of it.

ICElib will be responsible for transmitting and freeing the reply_data_ret and error_string_ret pointers withfree

The IcePaAuthProc should return one of four values:

Chapter 7. ICE Connections

In order for two clients to establish an ICE connection, one client has to be waiting for connections, and the other client has to initiate the connection. Most clients will initiate connections, so we discuss that first.

Opening an ICE Connection

To open an ICE connection with another client (that is, waiting for connections), use IceOpenConnection

IceConn **IceOpenConnection**(char *network_ids_list, IcePointer context, Bool must_authenticate, int major_opcode_check, int error_length, char *error_string_ret);

network_ids_list Specifies the network ID(s) of the other client.
context A pointer to an opaque object or NULL. Used to determine if an ICE connection can be shared (see below).
must_authenticate If True the other client may not bypass authentication.
major_opcode_check Used to force a new ICE connection to be created (see below).
error_length Length of the error_string_ret argument passed in.
error_string_ret Returns a null-terminated error message, if any. The error_string_ret argument points to user supplied memory. No more than error_length bytes are used.

IceOpenConnectionreturns an opaque ICE connection object if it succeeds; otherwise, it returns NULL.

The network_ids_list argument contains a list of network IDs separated by commas. An attempt will be made to use the first network ID. If that fails, an attempt will be made using the second network ID, and so on. Each network ID has the following format:

tcp/: or
decnet/:: or
local/:

Most protocol libraries will have some sort of open function that should internally make a call intoIceOpenConnectionWhenIceOpenConnectionis called, it may be possible to use a previously opened ICE connection (if the target client is the same). However, there are cases in which shared ICE connections are not desired.

The context argument is used to determine if an ICE connection can be shared. If context is NULL, then the caller is always willing to share the connection. If context is not NULL, then the caller is not willing to use a previously opened ICE connection that has a different non-NULL context associated with it.

In addition, if major_opcode_check contains a nonzero major opcode value, a previously created ICE connection will be used only if the major opcode is not active on the connection. This can be used to force multiple ICE connections between two clients for the same protocol.

Any authentication requirements are handled internally by the ICE library. The method by which the authentication data is obtained is implementation-dependent.[1]

AfterIceOpenConnectionis called, the client is ready to send aProtocolSetup(provided thatIceRegisterForProtocolSetupwas called) or receive aProtocolSetup(provided thatIceRegisterForProtocolReplywas called).

Listening for ICE Connections

Clients wishing to accept ICE connections must first callIceListenForConnectionsorIceListenForWellKnownConnectionsso that they can listen for connections. A list of opaque "listen" objects are returned, one for each type of transport method that is available (for example, Unix Domain, TCP, DECnet, and so on).

Normally clients will let ICElib allocate an available name in each transport and return listen objects. Such a client will then useIceComposeNetworkIdListto extract the chosen names and make them available to other clients for opening the connection. In certain cases it may be necessary for a client to listen for connections on pre-arranged transport object names. Such a client may useIceListenForWellKnownConnectionsto specify the names for the listen objects.

Status **IceListenForConnections**(int *count_ret, IceListenObj **listen_objs_ret, int error_length, char *error_string_ret);

count_ret Returns the number of listen objects created.
listen_objs_ret Returns a list of pointers to opaque listen objects.
error_length The length of the error_string_ret argument passed in.
error_string_ret Returns a null-terminated error message, if any. The error_string_ret points to user supplied memory. No more than error_length bytes are used.

The return value ofIceListenForConnectionsis zero for failure and a positive value for success.

Status **IceListenForWellKnownConnections**(char *port_id, int *count_ret, IceListenObj **listen_objs_ret, int error_length, char *error_string_ret);

port_id Specifies the port identification for the address(es) to be opened. The value must not contain the slash ("/"> or comma (".") character; thse are reserved for future use.
count_ret Returns the number of listen objects created.
listen_objs_ret Returns a list of pointers to opaque listen objects.
listen_objs_ret Returns a list of pointers to opaque listen objects.
error_length The length of the error_string_ret argument passed in.
error_string_ret Returns a null-terminated error message, if any. The error_string_ret points to user supplied memory. No more than error_length bytes are used.

IceListenForWellKnownConnections constructs a list of network IDs by prepending each known transport to port_id and then attempts to create listen objects for the result. Port_id is the portnumber, objname, or path portion of the ICE network ID. If a listen object for a particular network ID cannot be created the network ID is ignored. If no listen objects are createdIceListenForWellKnownConnectionsreturns failure.

The return value of IceListenForWellKnownConnectionsis zero for failure and a positive value for success.

To close and free the listen objects, useIceFreeListenObjs

void **IceFreeListenObjs**(int count, IceListenObj *listen_objs);

count The number of listen objects.
listen_objs The listen objects.

To detect a new connection on a listen object, useselect on the descriptor associated with the listen object.

To obtain the descriptor, useIceGetListenConnectionNumber

int **IceGetListenConnectionNumber**(IceListenObj *listen_objs);

listen_obj The listen objects.

To obtain the network ID string associated with a listen object, useIceGetListenConnectionString

char **IceGetListenConnectionString**(IceListenObj listen_obj);

listen_obj The listen objects.

A network ID has the following format:

tcp/: or
decnet/:: or
local/:

To compose a string containing a list of network IDs separated by commas (the format recognized by IceOpenConnectionuse IceComposeNetworkIdList

char **IceComposeNetworkIdList**(int count, IceListenObj *listen_objs);

count The number of listen objects.
listen_objs The listen objects.

Host Based Authentication for ICE Connections

If authentication fails when a client attempts to open an ICE connection and the initiating client has not required authentication, a host based authentication procedure may be invoked to provide a last chance for the client to connect. Each listen object has such a callback associated with it, and this callback is set using theIceSetHostBasedAuthProcfunction.

void **IceSetHostBasedAuthProc**(IceListenObj listen_obj, IceHostBasedAuthProc host_based_auth_proc);

IceListenObj The listen object.
host_based_auth_proc The host based authentication procedure.

By default, each listen object has no host based authentication procedure associated with it. Passing NULL for host_based_auth_proc turns off host based authentication if it was previously set.

Bool **HostBasedAuthProc**(char *host_name);

host_name The host name of the client that tried to open an ICE connection.

The host_name argument is a string in the form_protocol_/hostname, where protocol is one of {tcp, decnet, local}.

If IceHostBasedAuthProc returnsTrueaccess will be granted, even though the original authentication failed. Note that authentication can effectively be disabled by registering anIceHostBasedAuthProcwhich always returns True

Host based authentication is also allowed atProtocolSetup time. The callback is specified in theIceRegisterForProtocolReplyfunction (seeProtocol Registration).

Accepting ICE Connections

After a connection attempt is detected on a listen object returned byIceListenForConnectionsyou should call IceAcceptConnectionThis returns a new opaque ICE connection object.

IceConn **IceAcceptConnection**(IceListenObj listen_obj, IceAcceptStatus *status_ret);

listen_obj The listen object on which a new connection was detected.
status_ret Return status information.

The status_ret argument is set to one of the following values:

In general, to detect new connections, you should callselecton the file descriptors associated with the listen objects. When a new connection is detected, theIceAcceptConnectionfunction should be called.IceAcceptConnectionmay return a new ICE connection that is in a pending state. This is because before the connection can become valid, authentication may be necessary. Because the ICE library cannot block and wait for the connection to become valid (infinite blocking can occur if the connecting client does not act properly), the application must wait for the connection status to become valid.

The following pseudo-code demonstrates how connections are accepted:

new_ice_conn = IceAcceptConnection (listen_obj, &accept_status); if (accept_status != IceAcceptSuccess) { close the file descriptor and return }

status = IceConnectionStatus (new_ice_conn); time_start = time_now;

while (status == IceConnectPending) { select() on {new_ice_conn, all open connections}

 for (each ice_conn in the list of open connections)
      if (data ready on ice_conn)
      {
           status = IceProcessMessages (ice_conn, NULL, NULL);
           if (status == IceProcessMessagesIOError)
                IceCloseConnection(ice_conn);
      }
 if data ready on new_ice_conn
 {
      /*
      * IceProcessMessages is called until the connection
      * is non-pending.  Doing so handles the connection
      * setup request and any authentication requirements.
      */

      IceProcessMessages ( new_ice_conn, NULL, NULL);
      status = IceConnectionStatus (new_ice_conn);
 }
 else
 {
      if (time_now - time_start > MAX_WAIT_TIME)
           status = IceConnectRejected;
 }

}

if (status == IceConnectAccepted) { Add new_ice_conn to the list of open connections } else { IceCloseConnection new_ice_conn }

AfterIceAcceptConnectionis called and the connection has been validated, the client is ready to receive aProtocolSetup(provided thatIceRegisterForProtocolReplywas called) or send aProtocolSetup(provided thatIceRegisterForProtocolSetupwas called).

Closing ICE Connections

To close an ICE connection created withIceOpenConnectionorIceAcceptConnectionuseIceCloseConnection

IceCloseStatus **IceCloseConnection**(IceConn ice_conn);

ice_conn The ICE connection to close.

To actually close an ICE connection, the following conditions must be met:

When it is known that the client on the other side of the ICE connection has terminated the connection without initiating shutdown negotiation, theIceSetShutdownNegotiationfunction should be called to turn off shutdown negotiation. This will preventIceCloseConnectionfrom writing to a broken connection.

void **IceSetShutdownNegotiation**(IceConn ice_conn, Bool negotiate);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
negotiate IfFalseshutdown negotiating will be turned off.

To check the shutdown negotiation status of an ICE connection, useIceCheckShutdownNegotiation

Bool **IceCheckShutdownNegotiation**(IceConn ice_conn);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.

IceCheckShutdownNegotiationreturnsTrueif shutdown negotiation will take place on the connection; otherwise, it returnsFalseNegotiation is on by default for a connection. It can only be changed with theIceSetShutdownNegotiationfunction.

Connection Watch Procedures

To add a watch procedure that will be called each time ICElib opens a new connection viaIceOpenConnectionorIceAcceptConnectionor closes a connection viaIceCloseConnectionuseIceAddConnectionWatch

Status **IceAddConnectionWatch**(IceWatchProc watch_proc, IcePointer client_data);

watch_proc The watch procedure to invoke when ICElib opens or closes a connection.
client_data This pointer will be passed to the watch procedure.

The return value of IceAddConnectionWatchis zero for failure, and a positive value for success.

Note that several calls to IceOpenConnectionmight share the same ICE connection. In such a case, the watch procedure is only invoked when the connection is first created (after authentication succeeds). Similarly, because connections might be shared, the watch procedure is called only if IceCloseConnectionactually closes the connection (right before the IceConn is freed).

The watch procedures are very useful for applications that need to add a file descriptor to a select mask when a new connection is created and remove the file descriptor when the connection is destroyed. Because connections are shared, knowing when to add and remove the file descriptor from the select mask would be difficult without the watch procedures.

Multiple watch procedures may be registered with the ICE library. No assumptions should be made about their order of invocation.

If one or more ICE connections were already created by the ICE library at the time the watch procedure is registered, the watch procedure will instantly be invoked for each of these ICE connections (with the opening argument set to True

The watch procedure is of type IceWatchProc

void **WatchProc**(IceConn ice_conn, IcePointer client_data, Bool opening, IcePointer *watch_data);

ice_conn The opened or closed ICE connection. CallIceConnectionNumberto get the file descriptor associated with this connection.
client_data Client data specified in the call toIceAddConnectionWatch
opening If True the connection is being opened. IfFalse the connection is being closed.
watch_data Can be used to save a pointer to client data.

If opening is True the client should set the *watch_data pointer to any data it may need to save until the connection is closed and the watch procedure is invoked again with opening set toFalse

To remove a watch procedure, useIceRemoveConnectionWatch

void **IceRemoveConnectionWatch**(IceWatchProc watch_proc, IcePointer client_data);

watch_proc The watch procedure that was passed toIceAddConnectionWatch
client_data The client_data pointer that was passed toIceAddConnectionWatch

Chapter 8. Protocol Setup and Shutdown

To activate a protocol on a given ICE connection, useIceProtocolSetup

IceProtocolSetupStatus **IceProtocolSetup**(IceConn ice_conn, int my_opcode, IcePointer client_data, Bool must_authenticate, int *major_version_ret, int *minor_version_ret, char **vendor_ret, char **release_ret, int error_length, char *error_string_ret);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
my_opcode The major opcode of the protocol to be set up, as returned byIceRegisterForProtocolSetup
client_data The client data stored in this pointer will be passed to theIcePoProcessMsgProc callback.
must_authenticate If True the other client may not bypass authentication.
major_version_ret The major version of the protocol to be used is returned.
minor_version_ret The minor version of the protocol to be used is returned.
vendor_ret The vendor string specified by the protocol acceptor.
release_ret The release string specified by the protocol acceptor.
error_length Specifies the length of the error_string_ret argument passed in.
error_string_ret Returns a null-terminated error message, if any. The error_string_ret argument points to user supplied memory. No more than error_length bytes are used.

The vendor_ret and release_ret strings should be freed withfree when no longer needed.

IceProtocolSetup returns one of the following values:

To notify the ICE library when a given protocol will no longer be used on an ICE connection, use IceProtocolShutdown

Status **IceProtocolShutdown**(IceConn ice_conn, int major_opcode);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
major_opcode The major opcode of the protocol to shut down.

The return value of IceProtocolShutdownis zero for failure and a positive value for success.

Failure will occur if the major opcode was never registered OR the protocol of the major opcode was never activated on the connection. By activated, we mean that a ProtocolSetup succeeded on the connection. Note that ICE does not define how each sub-protocol triggers a protocol shutdown.

Chapter 9. Processing Messages

To process incoming messages on an ICE connection, useIceProcessMessages

IceProcessMessagesStatus **IceProcessMessages**(IceConn ice_conn, IceReplyWaitInfo *reply_wait, Bool *reply_ready_ret);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
reply_wait Indicates if a reply is being waited for.
reply_ready_ret If set to True on return, a reply is ready.

IceProcessMessages is used in two ways:

IceReplyWaitInfo contains the major/minor opcodes and sequence number of the message for which a reply is being awaited. It also contains a pointer to the reply message to be filled in (the protocol library should cast this IcePointerto the appropriate reply type). In most cases, the reply will have some fixed-size part, and the client waiting for the reply will have provided a pointer to a structure to hold this fixed-size data. If there is variable-length data, it would be expected that theIcePoProcessMsgProccallback will have to allocate additional memory and store pointer(s) to that memory in the fixed-size structure. If the entire data is variable length (for example, a single variable-length string), then the client waiting for the reply would probably just pass a pointer to fixed-size space to hold a pointer, and theIcePoProcessMsgProccallback would allocate the storage and store the pointer. It is the responsibility of the client receiving the reply to free up any memory allocated on its behalf.

typedef struct { unsigned long sequence_of_request; int major_opcode_of_request; int minor_opcode_of_request; IcePointer reply; } IceReplyWaitInfo;

If reply_wait is not NULL andIceProcessMessageshas a reply or error to return in response to this reply_wait (that is, no callback was generated), then the reply_ready_ret argument will be set to True

If reply_wait is NULL, then the caller may also pass NULL for reply_ready_ret and be guaranteed that no value will be stored in this pointer.

IceProcessMessages returns one of the following values:

Chapter 10. Ping

To send a "Ping" message to the client on the other side of the ICE connection, use IcePing

Status **IcePing**(IceConn ice_conn, IcePingReplyProc ping_reply_proc, IcePointer client_data);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
ping_reply_proc The callback to invoke when the Ping reply arrives.
client_data This pointer will be passed to the IcePingReplyProccallback.

IcePingreturns zero for failure and a positive value for success.

WhenIceProcessMessagesprocesses the Ping reply, it will invoke theIcePingReplyProccallback.

void **PingReplyProc**(IceConn ice_conn, IcePointer client_data);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
client_data The client data specified in the call toIcePing

Chapter 11. Using ICElib Informational Functions

IceConnectStatus **IceConnectionStatus**(IceConn ice_conn);

IceConnectionStatusreturns the status of an ICE connection. The possible return values are:

char ***IceVendor**(IceConn ice_conn);

IceVendorreturns the ICE library vendor identification for the other side of the connection. The string should be freed with a call tofreewhen no longer needed.

char ***IceRelease**(IceConn ice_conn);

IceReleasereturns the release identification of the ICE library on the other side of the connection. The string should be freed with a call tofreewhen no longer needed.

int **IceProtocolVersion**(IceConn ice_conn);

IceProtocolVersionreturns the major version of the ICE protocol on this connection.

int **IceProtocolRevision**(IceConn ice_conn);

IceProtocolRevisionreturns the minor version of the ICE protocol on this connection.

int **IceConnectionNumber**(IceConn ice_conn);

IceConnectionNumberreturns the file descriptor of this ICE connection.

char ***IceConnectionString**(IceConn ice_conn);

IceConnectionStringreturns the network ID of the client that accepted this connection. The string should be freed with a call tofreewhen no longer needed.

unsigned long **IceLastSentSequenceNumber**(IceConn ice_conn);

IceLastSentSequenceNumberreturns the sequence number of the last message sent on this ICE connection.

unsigned long **IceLastReceivedSequenceNumber**(IceConn ice_conn);

IceLastReceivedSequenceNumberreturns the sequence number of the last message received on this ICE connection.

Bool **IceSwapping**(IceConn ice_conn);

IceSwappingreturnsTrueif byte swapping is necessary when reading messages on the ICE connection.

IcePointer **IceGetContext**(IceConn ice_conn);

IceGetContextreturns the context associated with a connection created byIceOpenConnection

Chapter 12. ICE Messages

All ICE messages have a standard 8-byte header. The ICElib macros that read and write messages rely on the following naming convention for message headers:

 CARD8	major_opcode;
 CARD8	minor_opcode;
 CARD8	data[2];
 CARD32	length B32;

The 3rd and 4th bytes of the message header can be used as needed. The length field is specified in units of 8 bytes.

Sending ICE Messages

The ICE library maintains an output buffer used for generating messages. Protocol libraries layered on top of ICE may choose to batch messages together and flush the output buffer at appropriate times.

If an IO error has occurred on an ICE connection, all write operations will be ignored. For further information, seeError Handling.

To get the size of the ICE output buffer, use IceGetOutBufSize

int **IceGetOutBufSize**(IceConn ice_conn);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.

To flush the ICE output buffer, use IceFlush

int **IceFlush**(IceConn ice_conn);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.

Note that the output buffer may be implicitly flushed if there is insufficient space to generate a message.

The following macros can be used to generate ICE messages:

**IceGetHeader**(IceConn ice_conn, int major_opcode, int minor_opcode, int header_size, <C_data_type> *pmsg);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
major_opcode The major opcode of the message.
minor_opcode The minor opcode of the message.
header_size The size of the message header (in bytes).
<C_data_type> The actual C data type of the message header.
pmsg The message header pointer. After this macro is called, the library can store data in the message header.

IceGetHeaderis used to set up a message header on an ICE connection. It sets the major and minor opcodes of the message, and initializes the message's length to the length of the header. If additional variable length data follows, the message's length field should be updated.

**IceGetHeaderExtra**(IceConn ice_conn, int major_opcode, int minor_opcode, int header_size, int extra, <C_data_type> *pmsg, char *pdata);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
major_opcode The major opcode of the message.
minor_opcode The minor opcode of the message.
header_size The size of the message header (in bytes).
extra The size of the extra data beyond the header (in 8-byte units).
<C_data_type> The actual C data type of the message header.
pmsg The message header pointer. After this macro is called, the library can store data in the message header.
pdata Returns a pointer to the ICE output buffer that points immediately after the message header. The variable length data should be stored here. If there was not enough room in the ICE output buffer, pdata is set to NULL.

IceGetHeaderExtrais used to generate a message with a fixed (and relatively small) amount of variable length data. The complete message must fit in the ICE output buffer.

**IceSimpleMessage**(IceConn ice_conn, int major_opcode, int minor_opcode);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
major_opcode The major opcode of the message.
minor_opcode The minor opcode of the message.

IceSimpleMessageis used to generate a message that is identical in size to the ICE header message, and has no additional data.

**IceErrorHeader**(IceConn ice_conn, int offending_major_opcode, int offending_minor_opcode, int offending_sequence_num, int severity, int error_class, int data_length);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
offending_major_opcode The major opcode of the protocol in which an error was detected.
offending_minor_opcode The minor opcode of the protocol in which an error was detected.
offending_sequence_num The sequence number of the message that caused the error.
severity IceCanContinue IceFatalToProtocolorIceFatalToConnection
error_class The error class.
data_length Length of data (in 8-byte units) to be written after the header.

IceErrorHeader sets up an error message header.

Note that the two clients connected by ICE may be using different major opcodes for a given protocol. The offending_major_opcode passed to this macro is the major opcode of the protocol for the client sending the error message.

Generic errors, which are common to all protocols, have classes in the range 0x8000..0xFFFF. See the _Inter-Client Exchange Protocol_standard for more details.

IceBadMinor 0x8000
IceBadState 0x8001
IceBadLength 0x8002
IceBadValue 0x8003

Per-protocol errors have classes in the range 0x0000-0x7fff.

To write data to an ICE connection, use the IceWriteData macro. If the data fits into the ICE output buffer, it is copied there. Otherwise, the ICE output buffer is flushed and the data is directly sent.

This macro is used in conjunction with IceGetHeader and IceErrorHeader

**IceWriteData**(IceConn ice_conn, int bytes, char *data);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
bytes The number of bytes to write.
data The data to write.

To write data as 16-bit quantities, use IceWriteData16

**IceWriteData16**(IceConn ice_conn, int bytes, char *data);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
bytes The number of bytes to write.
data The data to write.

To write data as 32-bit quantities, use IceWriteData32

**IceWriteData32**(IceConn ice_conn, int bytes, char *data);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
bytes The number of bytes to write.
data The data to write.

To write data as 32-bit quantities, use IceWriteData32

To bypass copying data to the ICE output buffer, use IceSendData to directly send data over the network connection. If necessary, the ICE output buffer is first flushed.

**IceSendData**(IceConn ice_conn, int bytes, char *data);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
bytes The number of bytes to send.
data The data to send.

To force 32-bit or 64-bit alignment, use IceWritePadA maximum of 7 pad bytes can be specified.

**IceWritePad**(IceConn ice_conn, int bytes, char *data);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
bytes The number of bytes to write.
data The number of pad bytes to write.

Reading ICE Messages

The ICE library maintains an input buffer used for reading messages. If the ICE library chooses to perform nonblocking reads (this is implementation-dependent), then for every read operation that it makes, zero or more complete messages may be read into the input buffer. As a result, for all of the macros described in this section that read messages, an actual read operation will occur on the connection only if the data is not already present in the input buffer.

To get the size of the ICE input buffer, use IceGetInBufSize

int **IceGetInBufSize**(IceConn ice_conn);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.

When reading messages, care must be taken to check for IO errors. If any IO error occurs in reading any part of a message, the message should be thrown out. After using any of the macros described below for reading messages, the IceValidIOmacro can be used to check if an IO error occurred on the connection. After an IO error has occurred on an ICE connection, all read operations will be ignored. For further information, seeError Handling.

Bool **IceValidIO**(IceConn ice_conn);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.

The following macros can be used to read ICE messages.

**IceReadSimpleMessage**(IceConn ice_conn, <C_data_type> *pmsg);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
<C_data_type> The actual C data type of the message header.
pmsg This pointer is set to the message header.

IceReadSimpleMessageis used for messages that are identical in size to the 8-byte ICE header, but use the spare 2 bytes in the header to encode additional data. Note that the ICE library always reads in these first 8 bytes, so it can obtain the major opcode of the message. IceReadSimpleMessagesimply returns a pointer to these 8 bytes; it does not actually read any data into the input buffer.

For a message with variable length data, there are two ways of reading the message. One method involves reading the complete message in one pass using IceReadCompleteMessageThe second method involves reading the message header (note that this may be larger than the 8-byte ICE header), then reading the variable length data in chunks (see IceReadMessageHeader and IceReadData

**IceReadCompleteMessage**(IceConn ice_conn, int header_size, <C_data_type> *pmsg, char *pdata);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
header_size The size of the message header (in bytes).
<C_data_type> The actual C data type of the message header.
pmsg This pointer is set to the message header.
pdata This pointer is set to the variable length data of the message.

If the ICE input buffer has sufficient space, IceReadCompleteMessagewill read the complete message into the ICE input buffer. Otherwise, a buffer will be allocated to hold the variable length data. After the call, the pdata argument should be checked against NULL to make sure that there was sufficient memory to allocate the buffer.

After calling IceReadCompleteMessageand processing the message, IceDisposeCompleteMessageshould be called.

**IceDisposeCompleteMessage**(IceConn ice_conn, char *pdata);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
pdata The pointer to the variable length data returned in IceReadCompleteMessage

If a buffer had to be allocated to hold the variable length data (because it did not fit in the ICE input buffer), it is freed here by ICElib.

**IceReadMessageHeader**(IceConn ice_conn, int header_size, <C_data_type> *pmsg);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
header_size The size of the message header (in bytes).
<C_data_type> The actual C data type of the message header.
pmsg This pointer is set to the message header.

IceReadMessageHeader reads just the message header. The rest of the data should be read with the IceReadDatafamily of macros. This method of reading a message should be used when the variable length data must be read in chunks.

To read data directly into a user supplied buffer, use IceReadData

**IceReadData**(IceConn ice_conn, int bytes, char *pdata);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
bytes The number of bytes to read.
pdata The data is read into this user supplied buffer.

To read data as 16-bit quantities, use IceReadData16

**IceReadData16**(IceConn ice_conn, Bool swap, int bytes, char *pdata);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
swap If True, the values will be byte swapped.
bytes The number of bytes to read.
pdata The data is read into this user supplied buffer.

To read data as 32-bit quantities, use IceReadData32

**IceReadData32**(IceConn ice_conn, Bool swap, int bytes, char *pdata);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
swap If True, the values will be byte swapped.
bytes The number of bytes to read.
pdata The data is read into this user supplied buffer.

To force 32-bit or 64-bit alignment, use IceReadPadA maximum of 7 pad bytes can be specified.

**IceReadPad**(IceConn ice_conn, int bytes);

ice_conn A valid ICE connection object.
bytes The number of pad bytes.

Chapter 13. Error Handling

There are two default error handlers in ICElib:

These error handlers can be changed to user-supplied routines if you prefer your own error handling and can be changed as often as you like.

To set the ICE error handler, use IceSetErrorHandler

**IceSetErrorHandler**(IceConn ice_conn, int bytes);

handler The ICE error handler. You should pass NULL to restore the default handler.

IceSetErrorHandler returns the previous error handler.

The ICE error handler is invoked when an unexpected ICE protocol error (major opcode 0) is encountered. The action of the default handler is to print an explanatory message tostderrand if the severity is fatal, callexitwith a nonzero value. If exiting is undesirable, the application should register its own error handler.

Note that errors in other protocol domains should be handled by their respective libraries (these libraries should have their own error handlers).

An ICE error handler has the type of IceErrorHandler

void **IceErrorHandler**(IceConn ice_conn, Bool swap, int offending_minor_opcode, unsigned long offending_sequence_num, int error_class, int severity, IcePointer values);

handler The ICE connection object.
swap A flag that indicates if the values need byte swapping.
offending_minor_opcode The ICE minor opcode of the offending message.
offending_sequence_num The sequence number of the offending message.
error_class The error class of the offending message.
severity IceCanContinue IceFatalToProtocolorIceFatalToConnection
values Any additional error values specific to the minor opcode and class.

The following error classes are defined at the ICE level:

IceBadMinor
IceBadState
IceBadLength
IceBadValue
IceBadMajor
IceNoAuth
IceNoVersion
IceSetupFailed
IceAuthRejected
IceAuthFailed
IceProtocolDuplicate
IceMajorOpcodeDuplicate
IceUnknownProtocol

For further information, see the Inter-Client Exchange Protocol standard.

To handle fatal I/O errors, use IceSetIOErrorHandler

IceIOErrorHandler **IceSetIOErrorHandler**(IceIOErrorHandler handler);

handler The I/O error handler. You should pass NULL to restore the default handler.

IceSetIOErrorHandler returns the previous IO error handler.

An ICE I/O error handler has the type of IceIOErrorHandler

void **IceIOErrorHandler**(IceConn ice_conn);

ice_conn The ICE connection object.

There are two ways of handling IO errors in ICElib:

Before the application I/O error handler is invoked, protocol libraries that were interested in being notified of I/O errors will have their IceIOErrorProchandlers invoked. This handler is set up in the protocol registration functions (see IceRegisterForProtocolSetup andIceRegisterForProtocolReplyand could be used to clean up state specific to the protocol.

void **IceIOErrorProc**(IceConn ice_conn);

ice_conn The ICE connection object.

Note that every IceIOErrorProccallback must return. This is required because each active protocol must be notified of the broken connection, and the application IO error handler must be invoked afterwards.

Chapter 14. Multi-Threading Support

To declare that multiple threads in an application will be using the ICE library, useIceInitThreads

Status IceInitThreads()

TheIceInitThreadsfunction must be the first ICElib function a multi-threaded program calls. It must complete before any other ICElib call is made.IceInitThreadsreturns a nonzero status if and only if it was able to initialize the threads package successfully. It is safe to callIceInitThreadsmore than once, although the threads package will only be initialized once.

Protocol libraries layered on top of ICElib will have to lock critical sections of code that access an ICE connection (for example, when generating messages). Two calls, which are generally implemented as macros, are provided:

void **IceLockConn**(IceConn ice_conn);

void **IceUnlockConn**(IceConn ice_conn);

ice_conn The ICE connection object.

To keep an ICE connection locked across several ICElib calls, applications use IceAppLockConnand IceAppUnlockConn

void **IceAppLockConn**(IceConn ice_conn);

ice_conn The ICE connection object.

The IceAppLockConnfunction completely locks out other threads using the connection until IceAppUnlockConnis called. Other threads attempting to use ICElib calls on the connection will block. If the program has not previously calledIceInitThreads IceAppLockConnhas no effect.

void **IceAppUnlockConn**(IceConn ice_conn);

ice_conn The ICE connection object.

The IceAppUnlockConnfunction allows other threads to complete ICElib calls on the connection that were blocked by a previous call to IceAppLockConnfrom this thread. If the program has not previously calledIceInitThreads IceAppUnlockConnhas no effect.

Chapter 15. Miscellaneous Functions

To allocate scratch space (for example, when generating messages with variable data), useIceAllocScratchEach ICE connection has one scratch space associated with it. The scratch space starts off as empty and grows as needed. The contents of the scratch space is not guaranteed to be preserved after any ICElib function is called.

char ***IceAllocScratch**(IceConn ice_conn, unsigned long size);

ice_conn The ICE connection object.
size The number of bytes required.

Note that the memory returned byIceAllocScratchshould not be freed by the caller. The ICE library will free the memory when the ICE connection is closed.

Chapter 16. Acknowledgements

Thanks to Bob Scheifler for his thoughtful input on the design of the ICE library. Thanks also to Jordan Brown, Larry Cable, Donna Converse, Clive Feather, Stephen Gildea, Vania Joloboff, Kaleb Keithley, Stuart Marks, Hiro Miyamoto, Ralph Swick, Jim VanGilder, and Mike Wexler.

Appendix A. Authentication Utility Functions

As discussed in this document, the means by which authentication data is obtained by the ICE library (forConnectionSetupmessages orProtocolSetupmessages) is implementation-dependent.†[2]

This appendix describes some utility functions that manipulate an ICE authority file. The authority file can be used to pass authentication data between clients.

The basic operations on the .ICEauthority file are:

These are fairly low-level operations, and it is expected that a program, like "iceauth", would exist to add, remove, and display entries in the file.

In order to use these utility functions, the <X11/ICE/ICEutil.h> header file must be included.

An entry in the .ICEauthority file is defined by the following data structure:

typedef struct { char *protocol_name; unsigned short protocol_data_length; char *protocol_data; char *network_id; char *auth_name; unsigned short auth_data_length; char *auth_data; } IceAuthFileEntry;

The protocol_name member is either "ICE" for connection setup authentication or the subprotocol name, such as "XSMP". For each entry, protocol specific data can be specified in the protocol_data member. This can be used to search for old entries that need to be removed from the file.

The network_id member is the network ID of the client accepting authentication (for example, the network ID of a session manager). A network ID has the following form:

tcp/: or
decnet/:: or
local/:

The auth_name member is the name of the authentication method. The auth_data member is the actual authentication data, and the auth_data_length member is the number of bytes in the data.

To obtain the default authorization file name, useIceAuthFileName

char *IceAuthFileName()

If the ICEAUTHORITY environment variable if set, this value is returned. Otherwise, the default authorization file name is $HOME/.ICEauthority. This name is statically allocated and should not be freed.

To synchronously update the authorization file, the file must be locked with a call to IceLockAuthFileThis function takes advantage of the fact that thelinksystem call will fail if the name of the new link already exists.

int **IceLockAuthFile**(char *file_name, int retries, int timeout, long dead);

file_name The authorization file to lock.
retries The number of retries.
timeout The number of seconds before each retry.
dead If a lock already exists that is the specified dead seconds old, it is broken. A value of zero is used to unconditionally break an old lock.

One of three values is returned:

To unlock an authorization file, use IceUnlockAuthFile

int **IceUnlockAuthFile**(char *file_name);

file_name The authorization file to unlock.

To read the next entry in an authorization file, useIceReadAuthFileEntry

IceAuthFileEntry ***IceReadAuthFileEntry**(FILE *auth_file);

auth_file The authorization file.

Note that it is the responsibility of the application to open the file for reading before calling this function. If an error is encountered, or there are no more entries to read, NULL is returned.

Entries should be free with a call to IceFreeAuthFileEntry

To write an entry in an authorization file, use IceWriteAuthFileEntry

Status **IceWriteAuthFileEntry**(FILE *auth_file, IceAuthFileEntry *entry);

auth_file The authorization file.
entry The entry to write.

Note that it is the responsibility of the application to open the file for writing before calling this function. The function returns a nonzero status if the operation was successful.

To search the default authorization file for an entry that matches a given protocol_name/network_id/auth_name tuple, useIceGetAuthFileEntry

IceAuthFileEntry ***IceGetAuthFileEntry**(const char *protocol_name, const char *network_id, const char *auth_name);

auth_file The name of the protocol to search on.
network_id The network ID to search on.
auth_name The authentication method to search on.

If IceGetAuthFileEntryfails to find such an entry, NULL is returned.

To free an entry returned byIceReadAuthFileEntry orIceGetAuthFileEntry use IceFreeAuthFileEntry

void **IceFreeAuthFileEntry**(IceAuthFileEntry *entry);

The X Consortium's ICElib implementation supports a simple MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 authentication scheme using the authority file utilities described in Appendix A.

In this model, an application, such as a session manager, obtains a magic cookie by callingIceGenerateMagicCookieand then stores it in the user's local .ICEauthority file so that local clients can connect. In order to allow remote clients to connect, some remote execution mechanism should be used to store the magic cookie in the user's .ICEauthority file on a remote machine.

In addition to storing the magic cookie in the .ICEauthority file, the application needs to call the IceSetPaAuthDatafunction in order to store the magic cookie in memory. When it comes time for the MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 authentication procedure to accept or reject the connection, it will compare the magic cookie presented by the requestor to the magic cookie in memory.

char ***IceGenerateMagicCookie**(int length);

length The desired length of the magic cookie.

The magic cookie returned will be null-terminated. If memory can not be allocated for the magic cookie, the function will return NULL. Otherwise, the magic cookie should be freed with a call tofree

To store the authentication data in memory, use IceSetPaAuthDataCurrently, this function is only used for MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 authentication, but it may be used for additional authentication methods in the future.

void **IceSetPaAuthData**(int num_entries, IceAuthDataEntry *entries);

num_entries The number of authentication data entries.
entries The list of authentication data entries.

Each entry has associated with it a protocol name (for example, "ICE" for ICE connection setup authentication, "XSMP" for session management authentication), a network ID for the "accepting" client, an authentication name (for example, MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1), and authentication data. The ICE library will merge these entries with previously set entries, based on the (protocol_name, network_id, auth_name) tuple.

typedef struct { char *protocol_name; char *network_id; char *auth_name; unsigned short auth_data_length; char *auth_data; } IceAuthDataEntry;