.\" $Id: pvm_unpack.3,v 1.1 1996/09/23 22:21:07 pvmsrc Exp $
.TH UNPACK 3PVM "30 August, 1993" "" "PVM Version 3.4"
.SH NAME
pvm_unpack \- Unpack the active message buffer into arrays
of prescribed data type.

.SH SYNOPSIS
.ft B
.nf
C
.br
	int info = pvm_unpackf( const char *fmt, ... )
.br
	int info = pvm_upkbyte( char *xp, int nitem, int stride)
.br
	int info = pvm_upkcplx( float *cp, int nitem, int stride)
.br
	int info = pvm_upkdcplx( double *zp, int nitem, int stride)
.br
	int info = pvm_upkdouble( double *dp, int nitem, int stride)
.br
	int info = pvm_upkfloat( float *fp, int nitem, int stride)
.br
	int info = pvm_upkint( int *ip, int nitem, int stride)
.br
	int info = pvm_upkuint( unsigned int *ip, int nitem, int stride )
.br
	int info = pvm_upkushort( unsigned short *ip, int nitem, int stride )
.br
	int info = pvm_upkulong( unsigned long *ip, int nitem, int stride )
.br
	int info = pvm_upklong( long *ip, int nitem, int stride)
.br
	int info = pvm_upkshort( short *jp, int nitem, int stride)
.br
	int info = pvm_upkstr( char *sp )

Fortran
.br
	call pvmfunpack( what, xp, nitem, stride, info )
.fi

.SH PARAMETERS
.IP fmt 0.8i
Printf-like format expression specifying what to pack. (See discussion)
.br
.IP nitem
The total number of \fIitems\fR to be unpacked
(not the number of bytes).
.\" For example, if nitem = 5 in pvm_upkdouble, then 5 double precision
.\" floating point values will be unpacked.
.br
.IP stride
The stride to be used when packing the items.
For example, if stride = 2 in pvm_upkcplx, then every other complex
number will be unpacked.
.br
.IP xp
Pointer to the beginning of a block of bytes. Can be any data type,
but must match the corresponding pack data type.
.br
.IP cp
Complex array at least nitem*stride items long.
.br
.IP zp
Double precision complex array at least nitem*stride items long.
.br
.IP dp
Double precision real array at least nitem*stride items long.
.br
.IP fp
Real array at least nitem*stride items long.
.br
.IP ip
Integer array at least nitem*stride items long.
.br
.IP jp
Integer*2 array at least nitem*stride items long.
.br
.IP sp
Pointer to a null terminated character string.
.br
.IP what
Integer specifying the type of data being unpacked.
.sp
.ce
\fIwhat\fR options
.ta 0.5i 2.0i 2.5i 4.0i
.nf
	STRING	0	REAL4	4
	BYTE1	1	COMPLEX8	5
	INTEGER2	2	REAL8	6
	INTEGER4	3	COMPLEX16	7

.fi
.IP info
Integer status code returned by the routine.
Values less than zero indicate an error.

.SH DESCRIPTION
Each of the pvm_upk* routines unpacks an array of the
given data type from the active receive buffer.
The arguments for each of the routines are a pointer
to the array to be unpacked into,
.I nitem
which is the total number of items to unpack, and
.I stride
which is the stride to use when unpacking.
.PP
An exception is pvm_upkstr() which by definition unpacks
a NULL terminated character string and thus does not need
.I nitem
or
.I stride
arguments.
The Fortran routine pvmfunpack( STRING, ... ) expects
.I nitem
to be the number of characters in the string and
.I stride
to be 1.
.PP
If the unpacking is successful,
.I info
will be 0. If some error occurs then
.I info
will be < 0.
.PP
A single variable (not an array) can be unpacked by setting
.I nitem
= 1 and
.I stride
= 1.
.PP
The routine pvm_unpackf() uses a printf-like format expression
to specify what and how to unpack data from the receive buffer.
All variables are passed as addresses.
A BNF-like description of the format syntax is:
.br
    format : null | init | format fmt
.br
    init : null | '%' '+'
.br
    fmt : '%' count stride modifiers fchar
.br
    fchar : 'c' | 'd' | 'f' | 'x' | 's'
.br
    count : null | [0-9]+ | '*'
.br
    stride : null | '.' ( [0-9]+ | '*' )
.br
    modifiers : null | modifiers mchar
.br
    mchar : 'h' | 'l' | 'u'

Formats:
.nf
  +  means initsend - must match an int (how) in the param list.
  c  pack/unpack bytes
  d  integer
  f  float
  x  complex float
  s  string

Modifiers:
  h  short (int)
  l  long  (int, float, complex float)
  u  unsigned (int)

\(cq*' count or stride must match an int in the param list.
.fi

.PP
Future extensions to the
.I what
argument in pvmfunpack will include
64 bit types when XDR encoding of these types is available.
Meanwhile users should be aware that precision can be lost
when passing data from a 64 bit machine like a Cray to a
32 bit machine like a SPARCstation. As a mnemonic the
.I what
argument name includes the number of bytes of
precision to expect. By setting encoding to PVMRAW (see pvmfinitsend)
data can be transferred between two 64 bit machines with
full precision even if the PVM configuration is heterogeneous.
.PP
Messages should be unpacked exactly like they were packed
to insure data integrity.
Packing integers and unpacking
them as floats will often fail because a type encoding
will have occurred transferring the data between heterogeneous
hosts. Packing 10 integers and 100 floats then trying to
unpack only 3 integers and the 100 floats will also fail.

.SH EXAMPLES
.nf
C:
	info = pvm_recv( tid, msgtag );
	info = pvm_upkstr( string );
	info = pvm_upkint( &size, 1, 1 );
	info = pvm_upkint( array, size, 1 );
	info = pvm_upkdouble( matrix, size*size, 1 );
.sp
	int count, *iarry;
	double darry[4];
        pvm_unpackf("%d", &count);
        pvm_unpackf("%*d %4lf", count, iarry, darry);
.sp
Fortran:
	CALL PVMFRECV( TID, MSGTAG, INFO );
	CALL PVMFUNPACK( INTEGER4, NSIZE, 1, 1, INFO )
	CALL PVMFUNPACK( STRING, STEPNAME, 8, 1, INFO )
	CALL PVMFUNPACK( REAL4, A(5,1), NSIZE, NSIZE , INFO )
.fi

.SH ERRORS
.IP PvmNoData
Reading beyond the end of the receive buffer.
Most likely cause is trying to unpack more items than were originally
packed into the buffer.
.IP PvmBadMsg
The received message can not be decoded.
Most likely because the hosts are heterogeneous and the user specified
an incompatible encoding.
Try setting the encoding to PvmDataDefault (see pvm_mkbuf).
.IP PvmNoBuf
There is no active receive buffer to unpack.
.PP
.SH SEE ALSO
pvm_pack(3PVM)
pvm_send(3PVM),
pvm_recv(3PVM),
pvm_pkmesg(3PVM)