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Difference between revisions of "AmigaDOS Packets"

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RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 = 0
 
RES2: CODE Failure code if RES1 = 0
   
The AmigaDOS function Lock() uses this action to create its locks. Given a name for the object, which may include a path, (ARG2) and a lock on a directory from which to look for the name (and path), ACTION_LOCATE_OBJECT will locate the object within the file system and create a FileLock structure associated with the object. If the directory lock in ARG1 is NULL, the name is relative to the root of the file handler's volume (a.k.a. ``:''). The memory for the FileLock structure returned in RES1 is maintained by the handler and freed by an ACTION_FREE_LOCK. Although it's not a requirement, if an handler expects to support the pre-1.3 Format command, it must accept any illegal mode as ACCESS_READ.
+
The AmigaDOS function Lock() uses this action to create its locks. Given a name for the object, which may include a path, (ARG2) and a lock on a directory from which to look for the name (and path), ACTION_LOCATE_OBJECT will locate the object within the file system and create a FileLock structure associated with the object. If the directory lock in ARG1 is NULL, the name is relative to the root of the file handler's volume (a.k.a. ''':'''). The memory for the FileLock structure returned in RES1 is maintained by the handler and freed by an ACTION_FREE_LOCK. Although it's not a requirement, if an handler expects to support the pre-1.3 Format command, it must accept any illegal mode as ACCESS_READ.
   
 
A handler can create an exclusive lock only if there are no other outstanding locks on the given object. Once created, an exclusive lock prevents any other locks from being created for that object. In general, a handler uses the FileLock->fl_Key field to uniquely identify an object. Note that some applications rely on this (although a handler is not required to implement this packet).
 
A handler can create an exclusive lock only if there are no other outstanding locks on the given object. Once created, an exclusive lock prevents any other locks from being created for that object. In general, a handler uses the FileLock->fl_Key field to uniquely identify an object. Note that some applications rely on this (although a handler is not required to implement this packet).

Revision as of 17:35, 30 January 2013

WIP.png This page is currently being updated to AmigaOS 4.x. Some of the information contained here may not yet be applicable in part or totally.

Introduction

Packet passing handles all communication performed by AmigaDOS between processes. The function diagram below shows how packets fit in with the other components of the Amiga operating system.

   +--------------+
   | User Process +-----------------------+
   +-------+------+                       |
           |                              |
           |                              |
    Function Calls                        |
           |                              |
          \|/                             |
 +---------+--------+                     |
 | AmigaDOS Open(), |                     |
 |   Close(), etc.  |                     |
 +---------+--------+                     |
           |                              |
           |                              |
      +-Packets---+--------+     +-----Packets--------+
      |           |        |     |        |           |
     \|/         \|/      \|/   \|/      \|/         \|/
 +----+----+ +----+----+ +-+--+--+-+ +----+----+ +----+----+
 | FFS/OFS | | FFS/OFS | | FFS/OFS | |   CON:  | |   CON:  |
 |   DH0:  | |   DF0:  | |   DF1:  | | Window1 | | Window2 |
 | Handler | | Handler | | Handler | | Handler | | Handler |
 | Process | | Process | | Process | | Process | | Process |
 +----+----+ +-------+-+ +----+----+ +----+----+ +----+----+
      |              |        |           |           |
     \|/            \|/      \|/         \|/         \|/
 +----+--------+  +--+--------+----+ +----+-----------+----+
 |Hddisk.device|  |Trackdisk.device| |    Console.device   |
 +-------------+  +----------------+ +---------------------+

A StandardPacket (defined in <dos/dosextens.h>) is used to send packet commands to a process's MsgPort. The StandardPacket structure contains an Exec Message structure and an AmigaDOS DOSPacket structure:

   struct StandardPacket
   {   struct Message   sp_Msg;
       struct DOSPacket sp_Pkt;
   };

This structure must be longword-aligned, and initialized to link the Message and DOSPacket sections to each other:

   packet->sp_Msg.mn_Node.ln_Name = (char *) &(packet->sp_Pkt);
   packet->sp_Pkt.dp_Link         = &(packet->sp_Msg);

Packets must also be initialized with a ReplyPort which can be created with the amiga.lib function CreatePort():

   if (replyport = (struct MsgPort *) CreatePort(NULL, 0))
       packet->sp_Pkt.dp_Port = replyport;

The DOSPacket portion of the StandardPacket structure is used to pass the packet type and arguments, and to receive the results of the packet. The argument types, number of arguments, and results vary for different packet types and are documented with each packet description. A DOSPacket must be longword-aligned and has the following general structure:

Type Name Description
struct Message* dp_Link Pointer back to Exec message structure
struct Message* dp_Port Reply port for the packet. Must be filled in each send
LONG dp_Type Packet type
LONG dp_Res1 For filesystem calls this is the result that would have been returned by the function; eg. Write("W") returns actual length written.
LONG dp_Res2 For filesystem calls this is what would have been returned by IoErr()
LONG dp_Arg1 Argument 1 (depends on packet type)
LONG dp_Arg2 Argument 2 (depends on packet type)
LONG dp_Arg3 Argument 3 (depends on packet type)
LONG dp_Arg4 Argument 4 (depends on packet type)
LONG dp_Arg5 Argument 5 (depends on packet type)
LONG dp_Arg6 Argument 6 (depends on packet type)
LONG dp_Arg7 Argument 7 (depends on packet type)

The format of a specific packet depends on its type; but in all cases it contains a back-pointer to the Message structure, the MsgPort for the reply, and two result fields. When AmigaDOS sends a packet, the reply port is overwritten with the process ID of the sender so that the packet can be returned. Thus, when sending a packet to an AmigaDOS handler process, you must fill in the reply MsgPort each time; otherwise when the packet returns, AmigaDOS has overwritten the original port. AmigaDOS maintains all other fields except the result fields.

All AmigaDOS packets are sent to the message port created as part of a process; this message port is initialized so that arriving messages cause signal bit 8 to be set. An AmigaDOS process that is waiting for a message waits for signal 8 to be set. When the process wakes up because this event has occurred, GetMsg() takes the message from the message port and extracts the packet address. If the process is an AmigaDOS handler process, then the packet contains a value in the PktType field that indicates an action to be performed, such as reading some data. The argument fields contain specific information such as the size of the buffer where the characters go.

When the handler process has completed the work required to satisfy this request, the packet returns to the sender, using the same message structure. Both the message structure and the packet structure must be allocated by the client and not deallocated before the reply has been received. Normally AmigaDOS is called by the client to send the packet, such as when a call to Read() is made. However, there are cases where asynchronous I/O is required, and in this case the client may send packets to the handler process as required. The packet and message structures must be allocated, and the process ID field filled in with the message port where this packet must return. A call to PutMsg() then sends the message to the destination. Note that many packets may be sent out, returning to either the same or different message ports.

Packet Types

Packets sent to a filesystem or handler can be divided into several basic categories:

Basic Input/Output.
These actions deal with transferring data to and from objects controlled by the handler.
File/Directory Manipulation/Information.
These actions are used to gain access to and manipulate the high-level structures of the filesystem.
Volume Manipulation/Information.
These actions allow access to the specific volume controlled by the filesystem.
Handler Maintenance and Control.
These actions allow control over the handler/filesystem itself, independent of the actual volume or structure underneath.
Handler Internal.
These actions are never sent to the handler directly. Instead they are generally responses to I/O requests made by the handler. The handler makes these responses look like packets to simplify processing.
Obsolete Packets.
These packets are no longer valid for use by handlers and filesystems.
Console Only Packets.
These packets are specific to console handlers. Filesystems can ignore these packets.

Each packet type documented in this section is listed with its action name, its corresponding number, any AmigaDOS routines that use this packet, and the list of parameters that the packet uses. The C variable types for the packet parameters are one of the following types:

Type Description
BPTR This is a BCPL pointer (the address of the given object shifted right by 2).
Note: This means that the object must be aligned on a longword boundary.
LOCK This is a BPTR to a FileLock structure returned by a previous ACTION_LOCATE_OBJECT. A lock of 0 is legal, indicating the root of the volume for the handler.
BSTR This is a BPTR to a string where the first byte indicates the number of characters in the string. A byte of this length is unsigned but because the information is stored in a byte, the strings are limited to 255 characters in length.
BOOL A 32-bit boolean value either containing DOSTRUE (-1) or DOSFALSE (0).
Note: Equality comparisons with DOSTRUE should be avoided.
CODE A 32-bit error code as defined in the <dos/dos.h> include file. Handlers should not return error codes besides those defined in <dos/dos.h>.
ARG1 The FileHandle->fh_Arg1 field.
LONG A 32-bit integer value.

Basic Input/Output

The Basic Input/Output actions are supported by both handlers and file systems. In this way, the application can get a stream level access to both devices and files. One difference that arises between the two is that a handler will not necessarily support an ACTION_SEEK while it is generally expected for a file system to do so.

These actions work based on a FileHandle which is filled in by one of the three forms of opens:

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_FINDINPUT         1005    Open(..., MODE_OLDFILE) 
ACTION_FINDOUTPUT        1006    Open(..., MODE_NEWFILE)
ACTION_FINDUPDATE        1004    Open(..., MODE_READWRITE)
ARG1:   BPTR    FileHandle to fill in
ARG2:   LOCK    Lock on directory that ARG3 is relative to
ARG3:   BSTR    Name of file to be opened (relative to ARG1)

RES1:   BOOL    Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE

All three actions use the lock (ARG2) as a base directory location from which to open the file. If this lock is NULL, then the file name (ARG3) is relative to the root of the current volume. Because of this, file names are not limited to a single file name but instead can include a volume name (followed by a colon) and multiple slashes allowing the file system to fully resolve the name. This eliminates the need for AmigaDOS or the application to parse names before sending them to the file system. Note that the lock in ARG2 must be associated with the file system in question. It is illegal to use a lock from another file system.

The calling program owns the file handle (ARG1). The program must initialize the file handle before trying to open anything (in the case of a call to Open(), AmigaDOS allocates the file handle automatically and then frees it in Close() ). All fields must be zero except the fh_Pos and fh_End fields which should be set to -1. The Open() function fills in the fh_Type field with a pointer to the MsgPort of the handler process. Lastly, the handler must initialize fh_Arg1 with something that allows the handler to uniquely locate the object being opened (normally a file). This value is implementation specific. This field is passed to the READ/WRITE/SEEK/ END/TRUNCATE operations and not the file handle itself.

FINDINPUT and FINDUPDATE are similar in that they only succeed if the file already exists. FINDINPUT will open with a shared lock while FINDUPDATE will open it with a shared lock but if the file doesn't exist, FINDUPDATE will create the file. FINDOUTPUT will always open the file (deleting any existing one) with an exclusive lock.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_READ              'R'     Read(...)
ARG1:   ARG1    fh_Arg1 field of the opened FileHandle
ARG2:   APTR    Buffer to put data into
ARG3:   LONG    Number of bytes to read

RES1:   LONG    Number of bytes read.
       0 indicates EOF.
      -1 indicates ERROR
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 is -1

This action extracts data from the file (or input channel) at the current position. If fewer bytes remain in the file than requested, only those bytes remaining will be returned with the number of bytes stored in RES1. The handler indicates an error is indicated by placing a -1 in RES1 and the error code in RES2. If the read fails, the current file position remains unchanged. Note that a handler may return a smaller number of bytes than requested, even if not at the end of a file. This happens with interactive type file handles which may return one line at a time as the user hits return, for example the console handler, CON:.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_WRITE             'W'     Write(...)
ARG1:   ARG1    fh_Arg1 field of the opened file handle
ARG2:   APTR    Buffer to write to the file handle
ARG3:   LONG    Number of bytes to write

RES1:   LONG    Number of bytes written.
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 not the same as ARG3

This action copies data into the file (or output channel) at the current position. The file is automatically extended if the write passes the end of the file. The handler indicates failure by returning a byte count in RES1 that differs from the number of bytes requested in ARG3. In the case of a failure, the handler does not update the current file position (although the file may have been extended and some data overwritten) so that an application can safely retry the operation.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_SEEK              1008    Seek(...)
ARG1:   ARG1    fh_Arg1 field of the opened FileHandle
ARG2:   LONG    New Position
ARG3:   LONG    Mode:   OFFSET_BEGINNING,OFFSET_END, or  OFFSET_CURRENT

RES1:   LONG    Old Position.   -1 indicates an error
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 = -1

This packet sets the current file position. The new position (ARG2) is relative to either the beginning of the file (OFFSET_BEGINNING), the end of the file (OFFSET_END), or the current file position (OFFSET_CURRENT), depending on the mode set in ARG3. Note that ARG2 can be negative. The handler returns the previous file position in RES1. Any attempt to seek past the end of the file will result in an error and will leave the current file position in an unknown location.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_END               1007    Close(...)
ARG1:   ARG1    fh_Arg1 field of the opened FileHandle

RES1:   LONG    DOSTRUE

This packet closes an open file handle. This function generally returns a DOSTRUE as there is little the application can do to recover from a file closing failure. If an error is returned under 2.0, DOS will not deallocate the file handle. Under 1.3, it does not check the result.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_LOCK_RECORD       2008    LockRecord(fh,pos,len,mod,tim)
ARG1:   BPTR    FileHandle to lock record in
ARG2:   LONG    Start position (in bytes) of record in the file
ARG3:   LONG    Length (in bytes) of record to be locked
ARG4:   LONG    Mode
                 0 = Exclusive
                 1 = Immediate Exclusive (timeout is ignored)
                 2 = Shared
                 3 = Immediate Shared (timeout is ignored)
ARG5:   LONG    Timeout period in AmigaDOS ticks (0 is legal)

RES1:   BOOL    Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE

This function locks an area of a file in either a sharable (indicating read-only) or exclusive (indicating read/write) mode. Several sharable record locks from different file handles can exist simultaneously on a particular file area but only one file handle can have exclusive record locks on a particular area at a time. The exclusivity of an exclusive file lock only applies to record locks from other file handles, not to record locks within the file handle. One file handle can have any number of overlapping exclusive record locks. In the event of overlapping lock ranges, the entire range must be lockable before the request can succeed. The timeout period (ARG5) is the number of AmigaDOS ticks (1/50 second) to wait for success before failing the operation.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_FREE_RECORD       2009    UnLockRecord(file,pos,len)
ARG1:   BPTR    FileHandle to unlock record in
ARG2:   LONG    Start position (in bytes) of record in the file
ARG3:   LONG    Length of record (in bytes) to be unlocked

RES1:   BOOL    Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE

This function unlocks any previous record lock. If the given range does not represent one that is currently locked in the file, ACTION_FREE_RECORD returns an error. In the event of multiple locks on a given area, only one lock is freed.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_SET_FILE_SIZE     1022    SetFileSize(file,off,mode)
ARG1:   BPTR    FileHandle of opened file to modify
ARG2:   LONG    New end of file location based on mode
ARG3:   LONG    Mode.  One of OFFSET_CURRENT, OFFSET_BEGIN, or OFFSET_END

RES1:   BOOL    Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE

This function is used to change the physical size of an opened file. ARG2, the new end-of-file position, is relative to either the current file position (OFFSET_CURRENT), the beginning of the file (OFFSET_BEGIN), or the end of the file (OFFSET_END), depending on the mode set in ARG3. The current file position will not change unless the current file position is past the new end-of-file position. In this case, the new file position will move to the new end of the file. If there are other open file handles on this file, ACTION_SET_FILE_SIZE sets the end-of-file for these alternate file handles to either their respective current file position or to the new end-of-file position of the file handle in ARG1, whichever makes the file appear longer.

Directory/File Manipulation/Information

The directory/file actions permits an application to make queries about and modifications to handler objects. These packets perform functions such as creating subdirectories, resolving links, and filling in FileInfoBlock structures for specific files.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_LOCATE_OBJECT     8       Lock(...)
ARG1:   LOCK    Lock on directory to which ARG2 is relative
ARG2:   BSTR    Name (possibly with a path) of object to lock
ARG3:   LONG    Mode:   ACCESS_READ/SHARED_LOCK, ACCESS_WRITE/EXCLUSIVE_LOCK

RES1:   LOCK    Lock on requested object or 0 to indicate failure
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 = 0

The AmigaDOS function Lock() uses this action to create its locks. Given a name for the object, which may include a path, (ARG2) and a lock on a directory from which to look for the name (and path), ACTION_LOCATE_OBJECT will locate the object within the file system and create a FileLock structure associated with the object. If the directory lock in ARG1 is NULL, the name is relative to the root of the file handler's volume (a.k.a. :). The memory for the FileLock structure returned in RES1 is maintained by the handler and freed by an ACTION_FREE_LOCK. Although it's not a requirement, if an handler expects to support the pre-1.3 Format command, it must accept any illegal mode as ACCESS_READ.

A handler can create an exclusive lock only if there are no other outstanding locks on the given object. Once created, an exclusive lock prevents any other locks from being created for that object. In general, a handler uses the FileLock->fl_Key field to uniquely identify an object. Note that some applications rely on this (although a handler is not required to implement this packet).

The fl_Volume field of the returned FileLock structure should point to the DOS device list's volume entry for the volume on which the lock exists. In addition, there are several diagnostic programs that expect all locks for a volume to be chained together off the dl_LockList field in the volume entry. Note that relying on this chaining is not safe, and can cause serious problems including a system crash. No application should use it.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_COPY_DIR          19      DupLock(...)
ARG1:   LOCK    Lock to duplicate

RES1:   LOCK    Duplicated Lock or 0 to indicate failure
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 = 0

This action's name is misleading as it does not manipulate directories. Instead, it creates a copy of a shared lock. The copy is subsequently freed with an ACTION_FREE_LOCK. Note that it is valid to pass a NULL lock. Currently, the DupLock() call always returns 0 if passed a 0, although a handler is not required to return a 0.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_FREE_LOCK         15      UnLock(...)
ARG1:   LOCK    Lock to free

RES1:   BOOL    TRUE

This action frees the lock passed to it. The AmigaDOS function Unlock() uses this packet. If passed a NULL lock, the handler should return success.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_EXAMINE_OBJECT    23      Examine(...)
ARG1:   LOCK    Lock of object to examine
ARG2:   BPTR    FileInfoBlock to fill in

RES1:   BOOL    Success/failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 = DOSFALSE

This action fills in the FileInfoBlock with information about the locked object. The Examine() function uses this packet. This packet is actually used for two different types of operations. It is called to obtain information about a given object while in other cases, it is called to prepare for a sequence of EXAMINE_NEXT operations in order to traverse a directory.

This seemingly simple operation is not without its quirks. One in particular is the FileInfoBlock->fib_Comment field. This field used to be 116 bytes long, but was changed to 80 bytes in release 1.2. The extra 36 bytes lie in the fib_Reserved field. Another quirk of this packet is that both the fib_EntryType and the fib_DirEntryType fields must be set to the same value, as some programs look at one field while other programs look at the other.

File systems should use the same values for fib_DirEntryType as the ROM file system and ram-handler do. These are as follows:

ST_ROOT          1
ST_USERDIR       2
ST_SOFTLINK      3 NOTE: this Shows up as a directory unless checked for explicitly
ST_LINKDIR       4
ST_FILE         -3
ST_LINKFILE     -4

Also note that for directories, handlers must use numbers greater than 0, since some programs test to see if fib_DirEntryType is greater than zero, ignoring the case where fib_DirEntryType equals 0. Handlers should avoid using 0 because it is not interpreted consistently.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT      24      ExNext(...)
ARG1:   LOCK    Lock on directory being examined
ARG2:   BPTR    BPTR FileInfoBlock

RES1:   BOOL    Success/failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 = DOSFALSE

The ExNext() function uses this packet to obtain information on all the objects in a directory. ACTION_EXAMINE fills in a FileInfoBlock structure describing the first file or directory stored in the directory referred to in the lock in ARG1. ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT is used to find out about the rest of the files and directories stored in the ARG1 directory. ARG2 contains a pointer to a valid FileInfoBlock field that was filled in by either an ACTION_EXAMINE or a previous ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT call. It uses this structure to find the next entry in the directory. This packets writes over the old FileInfoBlock with information on the next file or directory in the ARG2 directory. ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT returns a failure code of ERROR_NO_MORE_ENTRIES when there are no more files or directories left to be examined. Unfortunately, like ACTION_EXAMINE, this packet has its own peculiarities. Among the quirks that ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT must account for are:

  • The situation where an application calls ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT one or more times and then stops invoking it before encountering the end of the directory.
  • The situation where a FileInfoBlock passed to ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT is not the same as the one passed to ACTION_EXAMINE or even the previous EXAMINE_NEXT operation. Instead, it is a copy of the FileInfoBlock with only the fib_DiskKey and the first 30 bytes of the fib_FileName fields copied over. This is now considered to be illegal and will not work in the future. Any new code should not be written in this manner.
  • Because a handler can receive other packet types between ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT operations, the ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT function must handle any special cases that may result.
  • The LOCK passed to ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT is not always the same lock used in previous operations. It is however a lock on the same object.

Because of these problems, ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT is probably the trickiest action to write in any handler. Failure to handle any of the above cases can be quite disastrous.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_CREATE_DIR        22      CreateDir(...)
ARG1:   LOCK    Lock to which ARG2 is relative
ARG2:   BSTR    Name of new directory  (relative to ARG1)

RES1:   LOCK    Lock on new directory
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 = DOSFALSE

ACTION_DELETE_OBJECT     16      DeleteFile(...)
ARG1:   LOCK    Lock to which ARG2 is relative
ARG2:   BSTR    Name of object to delete (relative to ARG1)

RES1:   BOOL    Success/failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 = DOSFALSE

ACTION_RENAME_OBJECT     17      Rename(...)
ARG1:   LOCK    Lock to which ARG2 is relative
ARG2:   BSTR    Name of object to rename (relative to ARG1)
ARG3:   LOCK    Lock associated with target directory
ARG4:   BSTR    Requested new name for the object

RES1:   BOOL    Success/failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 = DOSFALSE

These three actions perform most of the work behind the AmigaDOS commands MakeDir, Delete, and Rename (for single files). These packets take as their parameters a lock describing where the file is and a name relative to that lock. It is the responsibility of the file system to ensure that the operation is not going to cause adverse effects. In particular, the RENAME_OBJECT action allows moving files across directory bounds and as such must ensure that it doesn't create hidden directory loops by renaming a directory into a child of itself.

For Directory objects, the DELETE_OBJECT action must ensure that the directory is empty before allowing the operation.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_PARENT            29      Parent(...)
ARG1:   LOCK    Lock on object to get the parent of

RES1:   LOCK    Parent Lock
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 = 0

This action receives a lock on an object and creates a shared lock on the object's parent. If the original object has no parent, then a lock of 0 is returned. Note that this operation is typically used in the process of constructing the absolute path name of a given object.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_SET_PROTECT       21      SetProtection(...)
ARG1:   Unused
ARG2:   LOCK    Lock to which ARG3 is relative
ARG3:   BSTR    Name of object (relative to ARG2)
ARG4:   LONG    Mask of new protection bits

RES1:   BOOL    Success/failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 = DOSFALSE

This action allows an application to modify the protection bits of an object. The 4 lowest order bits (RWED) are a bit peculiar. If their respective bit is set, that operation is not allowed (i.e. if a file's delete bit is set the file is not deleteable). By default, files are created with the RWED bits set and all others cleared. Additionally, any action which modifies a file is required to clear the A (archive) bit. See the dos/dos.h include file for the definitions of the bit fields.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_SET_COMMENT       28      SetComment(...)
ARG1:   Unused
ARG2:   LOCK    Lock to which ARG3 is relative
ARG3:   BSTR    Name of object (relative to ARG2)
ARG4:   BSTR    New Comment string

RES1:   BOOL    Success/failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 = DOSFALSE

This action allows an application to set the comment string of an object. If the object does not exist then DOSFALSE will be returned in RES1 with the failure code in RES2. The comment string is limited to 79 characters.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_SET_DATE          34      SetFileDate(...) in 2.0
ARG1:   Unused
ARG2:   LOCK    Lock to which ARG3 is relative
ARG3:   BSTR    Name of Object (relative to ARG2)
ARG4:   CPTR    DateStamp

RES1:   BOOL    Success/failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 = DOSFALSE

This action allows an application to set an object's creation date.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_FH_FROM_LOCK      1026    OpenFromLock(lock)
ARG1:   BPTR    BPTR to file handle to fill in
ARG2:   LOCK    Lock of file to open

RES1:   BOOL    Success/failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 = NULL

This action open a file from a given lock. If this action is successful, the file system will essentially steal the lock so a program should not use it anymore. If ACTION_FH_FROM_LOCK fails, the lock is still usable by an application.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_SAME_LOCK         40      SameLock(lock1,lock2)
ARG1:   BPTR    Lock 1 to compare
ARG2:   BPTR    Lock 2 to compare

RES1:   LONG    Result of comparison, one of
    DOSTRUE           if locks are for the same object
    DOSFALSE          if locks are on different objects
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 is LOCK_DIFFERENT

This action compares the targets of two locks. If they point to the same object, ACTION_SAME_LOCK should return LOCK_SAME.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_MAKE_LINK         1021    MakeLink(name,targ,mode)
ARG1:   BPTR    Lock on directory ARG2 is relative to
ARG2:   BSTR    Name of the link to be created (relative to ARG1)
ARG3:   BPTR    Lock on target object or name (for soft links).
ARG4:   LONG    Mode of link, either LINK_SOFT or LINK_HARD

RES1:   BOOL    Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE

This packet causes the file system to create a link to an already existing file or directory. There are two kinds of links, hard links and soft links. The basic difference between them is that a file system resolves a hard link itself, while the file system passes a string back to DOS telling it where to find a soft linked file or directory. To the packet level programmer, there is essentially no difference between referencing a file by its original name or by its hard link name. In the case of a hard link, ARG3 is a lock on the file or directory that the link is linked to, while in a soft link, ARG3 is a pointer (CPTR) to a C-style string.

In an over-simplified model of the ROM file system, when asked to locate a file, the system scans a disk looking for a file header with a specific (file) name. That file header points to the actual file data somewhere on the disk. With hard links, more than one file header can point to the same file data, so data can be referenced by more than one name. When the user tries to delete a hard link to a file, the system first checks to see if there are any other hard links to the file. If there are, only the hard link is deleted, the actual file data the hard link used to reference remains, so the existing hard links can still use it. In the case where the original link (not a hard or soft link) to a file is deleted, the file system will make one of its hard links the new real link to the file. Hard links can exist on directories as well. Because hard links link directly to the underlying media, hard links in one file system cannot reference objects in another file system.

Soft links are resolved through DOS calls. When the file system scans a disk for a file or directory name and finds that the name is a soft link, it returns an error code (ERROR_IS_SOFT_LINK). If this happens, the application must ask the file system to tell it what the link the link refers to by calling ACTION_READ_LINK. Soft Links are stored on the media, but instead of pointing directly to data on the disk, a soft link contains a path to its object. This path can be relative to the lock in ARG1, relative to the volume (where the string will be prepended by a colon ':'), or an absolute path. An absolute path contains the name of another volume, so a soft link can reference files and directories on other disks.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_READ_LINK         1024  ReadLink(port,lck,nam,buf,len)
ARG1:   BPTR    Lock on directory that ARG2 is relative to
ARG2:   CPTR    Path and name of link (relative to ARG1).
                  NOTE: This is a C string not a BSTR
ARG3:   APTR    Buffer for new path string
ARG4:   LONG    Size of buffer in bytes

RES1:   LONG    Actual length of returned string, -2 if there isn't
                  enough space in buffer,or -1 for other errors
RES2:   CODE    Failure code

This action reads a link and returns a path name to the link's object. The link's name (plus any necessary path) is passed as a CPTR (ARG2) which points to a C-style string, not a BSTR. ACTION_READ_LINK returns the path name in ARG3. The length of the target string is returned in RES1 (or a -1 indicating an error).

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_CHANGE_MODE       1028    ChangeMode(type,obj,mode)
ARG1:   LONG    Type of object to change - either CHANGE_FH
                  or CHANGE_LOCK
ARG2:   BPTR    object to be changed
ARG3:   LONG    New mode for object - see ACTION_FINDINPUT,
                  and ACTION_LOCATE_OBJECT

RES1:   BOOL    Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE

This action requests that the handler change the mode of the given file handle or lock to the mode in ARG3. This request should fail if the handler can't change the mode as requested (for example an exclusive request for an object that has multiple users).

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_COPY_DIR_FH       1030    DupLockFromFH(fh)
ARG1:   LONG    fh_Arg1 of file handle

RES1:   BPTR    Lock associated with file handle or NULL
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 = NULL

This action requests that the handler return a lock associated with the currently opened file handle. The request may fail for any restriction imposed by the file system (for example when the file handle is not opened in a shared mode). The file handle is still usable after this call, unlike the lock in ACTION_FH_FROM_LOCK.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_PARENT_FH         1031    ParentOfFH(fh)
ARG1:   LONG    fh_Arg1 of File handle to get parent of

RES1:   BPTR    Lock on parent of a file handle
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 = NULL

This action obtains a lock on the parent directory (or root of the volume if at the top level) for a currently opened file handle. The lock is returned as a shared lock and must be freed. Note that unlike ACTION_COPY_DIR_FH, the mode of the file handle is unimportant. For an open file, ACTION_PARENT_FH should return a lock under all circumstances.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_EXAMINE_ALL       1033    ExAll(lock,buff,size,type,ctl)
ARG1:   BPTR    Lock on directory to examine
ARG2:   APTR    Buffer to store results
ARG3:   LONG    Length (in bytes) of buffer (ARG2)
ARG4:   LONG    Type of request - one of the following:
           ED_NAME Return only file names
           ED_TYPE Return above plus file type
           ED_SIZE Return above plus file size
           ED_PROTECTION Return above plus file protection
           ED_DATE Return above plus 3 longwords of date
           ED_COMMENT Return above plus comment or NULL
ARG5:   BPTR    Control structure to store state information.  The control
                  structure must be allocated with AllocDosObject()!

RES1:   LONG    Continuation flag - DOSFALSE indicates termination
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE

This action allows an application to obtain information on multiple directory entries. It is particularly useful for applications that need to obtain information on a large number of files and directories.

This action fills the buffer (ARG2) with partial or whole ExAllData structures. The size of the ExAllData structure depends on the type of request. If the request type field (ARG4) is set to ED_NAME, only the ed_Name field is filled in. Instead of copying the unused fields of the ExAllData structure into the buffer, ACTION_EXAMINE_ALL truncates the unused fields. This effect is cumulative, so requests to fill in other fields in the ExAllData structure causes all fields that appear in the structure before the requested field will be filled in as well. Like the ED_NAME case mentioned above, any field that appears after the requested field will be truncated (see the ExAllData structure below). For example, if the request field is set to ED_COMMENT, ACTION_EXAMINE_ALL fills in all the fields of the ExAllData structure, because the ed_Comment field is last. This is the only case where the packet returns entire ExAllData structures.

struct ExAllData {
         struct ExAllData *ed_Next;
         UBYTE  *ed_Name;
         LONG    ed_Type;
         ULONG   ed_Size;
         ULONG   ed_Prot;
         ULONG   ed_Days;
         ULONG   ed_Mins;
         ULONG   ed_Ticks;
         UBYTE  *ed_Comment;     /* strings will be after last used field. */
 };

Each ExAllData structure entry has an ead_Next field which points to the next ExAllData structure. Using these links, a program can easily chain through the ExAllData structures without having to worry about how large the structure is. Do not examine the fields beyond those requested as they certainly will not be initialized (and will probably overlay the next entry).

The most important part of this action is the ExAllControl structure. It must be allocated and freed through AllocDosObject()/FreeDosObject(). This allows the structure to grow if necessary with future revisions of the operating and file systems. Currently, ExAllControl contains four fields:

  • Entries - This field is maintained by the file system and indicates the actual number of entries present in the buffer after the action is complete. Note that a value of zero is possible here as no entries may match the match string.
  • LastKey - This field must be initialized to 0 by the calling application before using this packet for the first time. This field is maintained by the file system as a state indicator of the current place in the list of entries to be examined. The file system may test this field to determine if this is the first or a subsequent call to this action.
  • MatchString - This field points to a pattern matching string parsed by ParsePattern() or ParsePatternNoCase(). The string controls which directory entries are returned. If this field is NULL, then all entries are returned. Otherwise, this string is used to pattern match the names of all directory entries before putting them into the buffer. The default AmigaDOS pattern match routine is used unless MatchFunc is not NULL (see below). Note that it is not acceptable for the application to change this field between subsequent calls to this action for the same directory.
  • MatchFunc - This field contains a pointer to an alternate pattern matching routine to validate entries. If it is NULL then the standard AmigaDOS wild card routines will be used. Otherwise, MatchFunc points to a hook function that is called in the following manner:
BOOL = MatchFunc(hookptr, data,typeptr)
                   A0      A1    A2
hookptr    Pointer to hook being called
data       Pointer to (partially) filled in ExAllData for item
             being checked.
typeptr    Pointer to longword indicating the type of the
             ExAll request (ARG4).

This function is expected to return DOSTRUE if the entry is acceptedand DOSFALSE if it is to be discarded.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_EXAMINE_FH        1034    ExamineFH(fh,fib)
ARG1:   BPTR    File handle on open file
ARG2:   BPTR    FileInfoBlock to fill in

RES1:   BOOL    Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE

This function examines a file handle and fills in the FileInfoBlock (found in ARG2) with information about the current state of the file. This routine is analogous to the ACTION_EXAMINE_OBJECT action for locks. Because it is not always possible to provide an accurate file size (for example when buffers have not been flushed or two processes are writing to a file), the fib_Size field (see dos/dos.h) may be inaccurate.

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_ADD_NOTIFY        4097    StartNotify(NotifyRequest)
ARG1:   BPTR    NotifyRequest structure

RES1:   BOOL    Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE

This action asks a file system to notify the calling program if a particular file is altered. A file system notifies a program either by sending a message or by signaling a task.

struct NotifyRequest {
         UBYTE *nr_Name;
         UBYTE *nr_FullName;             /* set by dos - don't touch */
         ULONG nr_UserData;              /* for applications use */
         ULONG nr_Flags;
 
         union {
 
             struct {
                 struct MsgPort *nr_Port;        /* for SEND_MESSAGE */
             } nr_Msg;
 
             struct {
                 struct Task *nr_Task;           /* for SEND_SIGNAL */
                 UBYTE nr_SignalNum;             /* for SEND_SIGNAL */
                 UBYTE nr_pad[3];
             } nr_Signal;
         } nr_stuff;
 
         ULONG nr_Reserved[4];           /* leave 0 for now */
 
         /* internal use by handlers */
         ULONG nr_MsgCount;              /* # of outstanding msgs */
         struct MsgPort *nr_Handler;     /* handler sent to (for EndNotify) */
 };

To use this packet, an application needs to allocate and initialize a NotifyRequest structure (see above). As of this writing, NotifyRequest structures are not allocated by AllocDosObject(), but this may change in the future. The handler gets the watched file's name from the nr_FullName field. The current file system does not currently support wild cards in this field, although there is nothing to prevent other handlers from doing so.

The string in nr_FullName must be an absolute path, including the name of the root volume (no assigns). The absolute path is necessary because the file or its parent directories do not have to exist when the notification is set up. This allows notification on files in directories that do not yet exist. Notification will not occur until the directories and file are created.

An application that uses the StartNotify() DOS call does not fill in the NotifyRequest's nr_FullName field, but instead fills in the nr_Name field. StartNotify() takes the name from the nr_Name field and uses GetDeviceProc() and NameFromLock() to expand any assigns (such as ENV:), storing the result in nr_FullName. Any application utilizing the packet level interface instead of StartNotify() must expand their own assigns. Handlers must not count on nr_Name being correct.

The notification type depends on which bit is set in the NotifyRequest.nr_Flags field. If the NRF_SEND_MESSAGE bit is set, an application receives notification of changes to the file through a message (see NotifyMessage from dos/notify.h). In this case, the nr_Port field must point to the message port that will receive the notifying message . If the nr_Flags NRF_SEND_SIGNAL bit is set, the file system will signal a task instead of sending a message. In this case, nr_Task points to the task and nr_SignalNum is the signal number. Only one of these two bits should be set!

When an application wants to limit the number of NotifyMessages an handler can send per NotifyRequest, the application sets the NRF_WAIT_REPLY bit in the nr_Flags field. This bit tells the handler not to send new NotifyMessages to a NotifyRequest's message port if the application has not returned a previous NotifyMessage. This pertains only to a specific NotifyRequest--if other NotifyRequests exist on the same file (or directory) the handler will still send NotifyMessages to the other NotifyRequest's message ports. The NRF_WAIT_REPLY bit only applies to message notification.

If an application needs to know if a file or directory exists at the time the application sets up notification on that file or directory, the application can set the NRF_NOTIFY_INITIAL bit in the nr_Flags field. If the file or directory exists, the handler sends an initial message or gives an initial signal.

Handlers should only perform a notification when the actual contents of the file have changed. This includes ACTION_WRITE, ACTION_SET_DATE, ACTION_DELETE, ACTION_RENAME_OBJECT, ACTION_FINDUPDATE, ACTION_FINDINPUT, and ACTION_FINDOUTPUT. It may also include other actions such as ACTION_SET_COMMENT or ACTION_SET_PROTECT, but this is not required (and may not be expected by the application as there is no need to reread the data).

Packet Mnemonic          ID      Function Syntax
======================== ======= ==========================
ACTION_REMOVE_NOTIFY     4098    EndNotify(NotifyRequest) 
ARG1:   BPTR    Pointer to previously added notify request

RES1:   BOOL    Success/Failure (DOSTRUE/DOSFALSE)
RES2:   CODE    Failure code if RES1 is DOSFALSE

This action cancels a notification (see ACTION_ADD_NOTIFY) . ARG1 is the NotifyRequest structure used to initiate the notification. The handler should abandon any pending notification messages. Note that it is possible for a file system to receive a reply from a previously sent notification message even after the notification has been terminated. It should accept these messages silently and throw them away.

Volume Manipulation/Information

Handler Maintenance and Control

Handler Internal

Obsolete Packets

Console Only Packets

Summary of Defined Packet Numbers

The following text was copied from an AmigaMail issue which coincided with the release of OS 2.0. The packet IDs may have changed and will be updated here to reflect new/changed packet IDs/actions as of OS 4.1.

This is a listing of all the DOS packets defined by Commodore with the release of OS 2.0. Packets 0-1999 are reserved for use by Commodore. Unless otherwise noted, packets 2050-2999 are reserved for use by third party developers (see chart below). The remaining packets are reserved for future expansion (Note: packets 2008, 2009, 4097, and 4098 are in use by Commodore).

       Decimal Hex     Action #define
       ======= ======= ================
       0       0x0000  ACTION_NIL
       1               <Reserved by Commodore>
       2       0x0002  ACTION_GET_BLOCK
       3               <Reserved by Commodore>
       4       0x0004  ACTION_SET_MAP
       5       0x0005  ACTION_DIE
       6       0x0006  ACTION_EVENT
       7       0x0007  ACTION_CURRENT_VOLUME
       8       0x0008  ACTION_LOCATE_OBJECT
       9       0x0009  ACTION_RENAME_DISK
       10-14           <Reserved by Commodore>
       15      0x000F  ACTION_FREE_LOCK
       16      0x0010  ACTION_DELETE_OBJECT
       17      0x0011  ACTION_RENAME_OBJECT
       18      0x0012  ACTION_MORE_CACHE
       19      0x0013  ACTION_COPY_DIR
       20      0x0014  ACTION_WAIT_CHAR
       21      0x0015  ACTION_SET_PROTECT
       22      0x0016  ACTION_CREATE_DIR
       23      0x0017  ACTION_EXAMINE_OBJECT
       24      0x0018  ACTION_EXAMINE_NEXT
       25      0x0019  ACTION_DISK_INFO
       26      0x001A  ACTION_INFO
       27      0x001B  ACTION_FLUSH
       28      0x001C  ACTION_SET_COMMENT
       29      0x001D  ACTION_PARENT
       30      0x001E  ACTION_TIMER
       31      0x001F  ACTION_INHIBIT
       32      0x0020  ACTION_DISK_TYPE
       33      0x0021  ACTION_DISK_CHANGE
       34      0x0022  ACTION_SET_DATE
       35-39           <Reserved by Commodore>
       40      0x0028  ACTION_SAME_LOCK
       41-81           <Reserved by Commodore>
       82      0x0052  ACTION_READ
       83-86           <Reserved by Commodore>
       87      0x0057  ACTION_WRITE
       88-993          <Reserved by Commodore>
       994     0x03E2  ACTION_SCREEN_MODE
       995     0x03E3  ACTION_CHANGE_SIGNAL
       996-1000        <Reserved by Commodore>
       1001    0x03E9  ACTION_READ_RETURN
       1002    0x03EA  ACTION_WRITE_RETURN
       1003            <Reserved by Commodore>
       1004    0x03EC  ACTION_FINDUPDATE
       1005    0x03ED  ACTION_FINDINPUT
       1006    0x03EE  ACTION_FINDOUTPUT
       1007    0x03EF  ACTION_END
       1008    0x03F0  ACTION_SEEK
       1009-1019       <Reserved by Commodore>
       1020    0x03FC  ACTION_FORMAT
       1021    0x03FD  ACTION_MAKE_LINK
       1022    0x03FE  ACTION_SET_FILE_SIZE
       1023    0x03FF  ACTION_WRITE_PROTECT
       1024    0x0400  ACTION_READ_LINK
       1025            <Reserved by Commodore>
       1026    0x0402  ACTION_FH_FROM_LOCK
       1027    0x0403  ACTION_IS_FILESYSTEM
       1028    0x0404  ACTION_CHANGE_MODE
       1029            <Reserved by Commodore>
       1030    0x0406  ACTION_COPY_DIR_FH
       1031    0x0407  ACTION_PARENT_FH
       1032            <Reserved by Commodore>
       1033    0x0409  ACTION_EXAMINE_ALL
       1034    0x040A  ACTION_EXAMINE_FH
       1035-2007       <Reserved by Commodore>
       2008    0x07D8  ACTION_LOCK_RECORD
       2009    0x07D9  ACTION_FREE_RECORD
       2010-2049       <Reserved by Commodore>
       2050-2999       <Reserved for 3rd Party Handlers>
       4097    0x1001  ACTION_ADD_NOTIFY
       4098    0x1002  ACTION_REMOVE_NOTIFY
       4099-           <Reserved by Commodore for Future Expansion>

Using Packets Directly

AmigaDOS contains many features that can only be accessed by sending a packet directly to a process. For example, the ACTION_DISK_INFO packet may be used to find the Intuition window pointer of a CON: or RAW: window. This is useful for redirecting system requesters so that they appear where the user can see them (see "Redirecting System Requesters" above). The Window pointer will be returned in the ID_VolumeNode field, and a pointer to the console's I/O request will be returned in the ID_InUse field. Note that auxilary consoles (AUX:) can return a NULL Window pointer, and also may have no ConUnit (io_Unit) associated with their I/O request block. Be careful to check for these possibilities when you use this packet. If your application runs in a CLI window, a user may be running you in an auxilary (AUX:) CLI.

Another example is the ACTION_SCREENMODE_MODE packet which can be sent to the handler process of a CON: window to put the console into raw or cooked mode.

By default, CON: provides mapped keyboard input which is filtered, buffered, and automatically echoed. Many of the special key escape sequences (such as those generated by the function, cursor, and help keys) are filtered out; all strokes are buffered and held back from the reader until the user hits the RETURN key; and the nonfiltered keypresses (such as alphanumeric keys and backspace) are automatically echoed to the CON: window. This "cooked" mode is perfect for general line input from a user because it provides automatic line editing features (same as in the Shell command line).

Sometimes, however, an application needs to get individual keys immediately from a CON: window, or control its own echoing, or receive the escape strings that the keymap generates for special keys such as the Help key or cursor keys.

In this case, an ACTION_SCREEN_MODE packet with the argument DOSTRUE (-1) may be sent to the MsgPort of a CON: window to put the CON: into "raw" mode. In raw mode, a CON: behaves much like a RAW: window. Keyboard console input is not automatically filtered, buffered, or echoed. When reading a CON: which has been set to "raw" mode, each keypress can be read immediately as the ASCII value or string to which the key is mapped by the keymap.

For some applications, it may be convenient to toggle a CON: window between cooked and raw modes, to use cooked mode for use line input, and raw mode when keypresses should cause immediate actions.

ACTION_SCREEN_MODE with the argument DOSFALSE (0L) will place a CON: window in cooked mode. Note that the ACTION_SCREEN_MODE packet may also be used on auxilary (AUX:) consoles.

The handler MsgPort of most named AmigaDOS devices (like DF0:) can be found with the DeviceProc() function. Note that DeviceProc() cannot be used to find a CON: or RAW: handler because there may be many handlers for each of these. The handler MsgPort (ProcessID) of a CON: or RAW: window is in its FileHandle structure (fh_Type). The MsgPort of a CLI process's "*" window is process->pr_ConsoleTask.

Here's how to find the MsgPort of a handler process (in all cases make sure that port is non-NULL before using it):

Finding the MsgPort of a unique named handler process such as "DF0:":

    port = (struct MsgPort *) DeviceProc("DF1:");

Finding the MsgPort of the handler process for an open file:

    fh = Open("CON:0/40/640/140/Test", MODE_NEWFILE);
    if ((fh) && (fh->Type))
    {   /* if Open() succeeded and fh_Type is non-NULL */
        port = (struct MsgPort *)
               (((struct FileHandle *) (fh << 2))->fh_Type);
    }

Finding the MsgPort of your process's console handler:

    struct Task* task = FindTask(NULL);
    if (task->tc_Node.ln_Type == NT_PROCESS)
    {   /* port may be NULL - check before using! */
        port = ((struct Process *) task)->pr_ConsoleTask;
    }

Packets are sent by initializing a longword-aligned StandardPacket structure and sending the packet to the MsgPort of a handler process.

The dos.library provides new simple functions for sending and replying to packets:

   SendPkt() - asynchronously send your initialized packet
   WaitPkt() - wait for asynchronous packet to complete
   ReplyPkt() - reply a packet which has been sent to you
   DoPkt() - creates and sends a packet, and waits for completion