Libt2n

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libt2n

Latest release:	0.2 / December 21, 2006
OS:	Unix-like
Use:	Inter-process communication
License:	LGPL
Website:	intra2net.com/de/produkte/opensource/libt2n/

libt2n is a free software library which offers a simple way for C++ applications to communicate with one another.

1 Introduction
2 Architecture
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Introduction

libt2n is an inter-process communication (IPC) system which is focused on ease of use an a minimum of code-lines needed to export and use methods. This is achived by reducing the feature-set and relying on the serialization library developed at Boost.

The goals of libt2n development are:

easy to use, mimimum of code-lines needed to export and use methods
handles complex C++ structures like maps of vectors, etc.
passes exceptions from the server back to the caller
easy integration into GNU Autotools and Pkg-config

The limitations of the current libt2n implementation:

C++ only
Synchronous, blocking, no callbacks
no server-side objects, just functions you can call
no threads or multiple server processes for handling multiple requests at once

[edit] Architecture

libt2n is devided in two parts:

The library which is linked to every client and server
The code generator used to create stubs and skeletons

The code generator does not use an Interface description language (IDL), but parses the source code of the server for special tags. It produces the code needed to handle the calls on the server and a ready-to-use library for the client.

If a remote function is called, the client library creates an object describing the call, including all parameters. This object is serialized using the Boost serialization library and transferred to the server. Currently this can be done using Unix domain sockets or TCP. The server deserializes the object and calls the corresponding method. The result (return value or exception) is again serialized and sent back to the client.