HP UX 11i v2 Networking Software manual Local Management Primitives

DLPI Primitives

Local Management Primitives

Local Management Primitives

This section describes the local management service primitives. These primitives support the information reporting, Attach and Bind. Once a stream has been opened by a DLS user, these primitives initialize the stream, preparing it for use.

PPA Initialization/De-initialization

The PPA associated with each stream must be initialized before the DLS provider can transfer data over the medium. The initialization and de-initialization of the PPA is a network management issue, but DLPI must address the issue because of the impact such actions will have on a DLS user. More specifically, DLPI requires the DLS provider to initialize the PPA associated with a stream at some point before it completes the processing of the DL_BIND_REQ. Guidelines for initialization and de-initialization of a PPA by a DLS provider are presented here.

A DLS provider may initialize a PPA using the following methods:

•pre-initialized by some network management mechanism before the DL_BIND_REQ is received; or

•automatic initialization on receipt of a DL_BIND_REQ or DL_ATTACH_REQ.

A specific DLS provider may support either of these methods, or possibly some combination of the two, but the method implemented has no impact on the DLS user. From the DLS user’s viewpoint, the PPA is guaranteed to be initialized on receipt of a DL_BIND_ACK. For automatic initialization, this implies that the DL_BIND_ACK may not be issued until the initialization has completed.

If pre-initialization has not been performed and/or automatic initialization fails, the DLS provider will fail the DL_BIND_REQ. Two errors, DL_INITFAILED and DL_NOTINIT, may be returned in the DL_ERROR_ACK response to a DL_BIND_REQ if PPA initialization fails. DL_INITFAILED is returned when a DLS provider supports automatic PPA initialization, but the initialization attempt failed. DL_NOTINIT is returned when the DLS provider requires pre-initialization, but the PPA is not initialized before the DL_BIND_REQ is received.

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