name_open()

Open a name to connect to a server

Synopsis:

#include <sys/iofunc.h>
#include <sys/dispatch.h>

int name_open( const char * name, 
               int flags );

Arguments:

name

The name that you want to open to connect to a server.

flags

Flags that affect the function's behavior; zero or more of the following:

NAME_FLAG_ATTACH_GLOBAL — search for the name globally instead of locally.
_NAME_FLAG_COF_CLOEXEC (QNX Neutrino 7.0.4 or later) — corresponds to _NTO_COF_CLOEXEC
_NAME_FLAG_COF_INSECURE (QNX Neutrino 7.0.4 or later) — corresponds to _NTO_COF_INSECURE
_NAME_FLAG_COF_NOEVENT (QNX Neutrino 7.0.4 or later) — corresponds to _NTO_COF_NOEVENT
_NAME_FLAG_COF_REG_EVENTS (QNX Neutrino 7.0.4 or later) — corresponds to _NTO_COF_REG_EVENTS

For more information about the _NTO_COF_* flags, see ConnectAttach().

Library:

libc

Use the -l c option to qcc to link against this library. This library is usually included automatically.

Description:

The name_open() function opens name to connect to the server that registered that name. No ordering is guaranteed when accessing resources on other nodes. There's also no guarantee that the client will end up talking to the server it thinks it's connecting to; another server process could run before the server the client is expecting to talk to and use the name in name. If this is a concern, your server should call resmgr_attach() instead of name_attach() and possibly configure a security policy.

You can make the connection more secure by setting the _NAME_FLAG_COF_INSECURE and _NAME_FLAG_COF_NOEVENT flags. For more information, see the descriptions of the corresponding ConnectAttach() flags.

Note:

The server application must be able handle an _IO_CONNECT message with a subtype of _IO_CONNECT_OPEN. If the global name service, gns, is running on your system, this message is sent to the server when a client calls name_open(). For an example, see the documentation for name_attach().

Returns:

A nonnegative integer representing a side-channel connection ID or coid (see ConnectAttach()), or -1 if an error occurred (errno is set).

Errors:

EINTR: The name_open() operation was interrupted by a signal.
EINVAL: One of the arguments to the function is invalid.
ELOOP: Too many levels of symbolic links or prefixes.
EMFILE: All file descriptors available to the process are currently open.
ENAMETOOLONG: The length of the name string exceeds PATH_MAX.
ENFILE: Too many files are currently open in the system.
ENOENT: The name doesn't exist.

Examples:

See name_attach().

Classification:

QNX Neutrino


Safety:
Cancellation point	Yes
Interrupt handler	No
Signal handler	Yes
Thread	Yes

Page updated: March 12, 2026