Content-type: text/html
Manpage of FCASTN
FCASTN
Section: Misc. Reference Manual Pages (1)
Updated:
Index
Return to Main Contents
NAME
fcastn - send or receive files using the MultiCast Library (MCL) using
the NORM protocol
SYNOPSIS
fcastn
[-h[elp]]
[-send]
[-recv]
[-a address[/port]]
[-if address]
[-v verbosity_level]
[-stat stat_level]
[-silent]
[-tmp tmp_dir_string]
[-p low|med|high|lan]
[-p size[/rate]]
[-P]
[-t ttl]
[-R]
[-fec n]
[-src address
[-int]
[-never]
[-force]
[file list or directory]
DESCRIPTION
fcastn
is a multicast file distribution application built over the
MultiCast Library (MCL) which uses the NORM (NACK/ACK Oriented
Reliable Multicast) protocol.
fcastn
can run both as a sender or a receiver.
fcastn
has many features like the ability to send recursively all the files
of a given directory and its subdirectories but unlike
fcast
(which is based on the ALC reliable multicast protocol), it
cannot be used in
``on-demand''
mode, but only in
``push''
mode.
fcastn
communicates many meta-data information along with the files in
order to precisely re-construct the file at the receiver.
An application-level checksum (using the same algorithm as that of TCP)
is also used in order to detect possible transmission errors.
OPTIONS
The following arguments can be provided
both at a sending or receiving fcast.
- -h[elp]
-
Gives the credits, the compilation parameters and all the possible
fcast
arguments.
- -send or -recv
-
Set the Fcast application mode to
sender
OR to
receiver.
You must ALWAYS specify one of these two modes.
- -a address[/port]
-
Specifies the unicast or multicast IPv4 address of the base layer and its UDP
port number (if specified).
If no
-a
and/or
/port
argument is provided, then the default target address (usually that of
the loopback interface) and port number of MCL are used.
With multicast addresses, the address and port number of layers 1 and above
are derived from that of the base layer by MCL (usually by incrementing the
address and port number).
(communicated to MCL)
- -if address
-
The network interface to use is the one attached to the local address
specified (or hostname specified).
This option is only required on multi-homed hosts or on routers as the
default interface chosen by the system without this option to send/receive
multicast may not be the one you want to use.
(communicated to MCL)
- -v verbosity_level
-
Specifies the level of verbosity desired from the MCL library.
This option also automatically enables the -stat 2 option to
add statistics.
Note that full verbosity requires that the MCL library be compiled in
DEBUG mode.
(communicated to MCL)
- -stat stat_level
-
Specifies the level of statistics desired from the MCL library.
Level 0 (default) means nothing, level 1 means that only the final
statistics (at end of session) will be displayed, level 2 means that each
time an object is fully received, statistics are displayed.
(communicated to MCL)
- -silent
-
Enables the silent mode (nothing sent to stdout).
- -tmp tmp_dir_string
-
Set the MCL temporary directory to be tmp_dir_string rather than its
default (usually "/tmp" with Unix).
The argument is a string, e.g. :
-tmp/home/roca/tmp
(communicated to MCL)
- -p low|med|high|lan
-
Specifies the transmission profile.
Possible values are:
low
(LOW_RATE_INTERNET),
med
(MID_RATE_INTERNET),
hig
(HIGH_SPEED_INTERNET), and
high
(HIGH_SPEED_LAN).
If not specified, the default value of MCL is used instead.
The
-p size[/rate]
argument can be used instead (but not at the same time).
(communicated to MCL)
WARNING: it is important that the transmission and reception profiles match, so use it on both ends.
- -p size[/rate]
-
Specifies the datagram size (in bytes) (at a sender or receiver), and
optionally the transmission rate (in bits/s) (only at a sender).
This argument cannot be used along with one of the
-p low|med|high|lan
arguments.
(communicated to MCL)
WARNING: it is important that the transmission and reception profiles match, so use it on both ends (only -p size at a receiver).
- -P
-
If enabled, causes fcast to make a pause before exiting (WIN32 only).
Used to prevent the closing of console window when fcast done, thus giving
some time to read outputs.
The following arguments are
specific to a sender.
- -t ttl
-
Specifies the time to live (ttl) value of the IP header.
If not specified, the default value of MCL is used instead (usually 1).
Use -t 1 if all the receivers are attached to the same LAN as the source.
(communicated to MCL)
- -R
-
Enables the recursive mode.
Using this flag, fcast recursively sends the whole directory tree given as a
parameter.
At the receiver side, the same directory tree is created in the CURRENT
directory (fcast never goes upward).
- -fec n
-
Set the FEC ratio to n. This FEC ratio is the N/K ratio, of the
total number of symbols after FEC encoding (data + FEC) to the
number of source symbols (data).
A default value of 2 is used, meaning that the same amount of FEC
symbols as original source symbols is produced.
Using
-fec 1
means that no FEC packets will be produced.
A limitation in this version is that this ratio must be an integer.
(communicated to MCL)
The following arguments are
specific to a receiver.
- -src address
-
Specifies the unicast IPv4 address or name of the source.
At a receiver <src_addr; TSI> are used to fully identify the ALC session
and to filter incoming packets.
If no
-src
argument is provided, then any packet matching the TSI (if provided)
will be accepted with the risk they belong to other sessions
(e.g if they use the same <multicast address, port> tuple).
(communicated to MCL)
- -int -never or -force
-
Sets the overwriting mode for an
receiver when a file to save already exists.
int
stands for interactive mode, meaning that the user will always be asked
before overwriting a file.
Using
never
, files are never overwritten.
Finally
force
means that any existing file will be automatically overwritten.
Default is
int
mode where the answer will quickly disappear!).
EXAMPLE
Here is a simple example where we send the file "foo.bar"
on group 225.1.2.3 :
fcastn -send -a225.1.2.3/2323 -v1 ./foo.bar
A more complex example is the following, sending the whole directory "foobar/" :
fcastn -send -a225.1.2.3/2323 -stat1 -phigh -R foobar/
A receiver for the previous exemple:
fcastn -recv -R -a225.1.2.3/2323 -stat1 -phigh -never
Here is a session where we completely specify the transmission parameters
(1024 bytes of payload per packet, and 1Mbps transmission rate):
fcastn -send -a225.1.2.3/2323 -v1 -p1024/1000000 ./foo.bar
fcastn -recv -a225.1.2.3/2323 -v1 -p1024
COPYRIGHTS
Copyright (c) 1999-2002 INRIA - Universite Paris 6 -
All rights reserved
(main authors: Vincent ROCA - vincent.roca@inrialpes.fr
Julien LABOURE - julien.laboure@inrialpes.fr)
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
SEE ALSO
fcast(1)fortheALCversion,
mcl_ctl(3),
MCL
documentation,
the INRIA Research Report 4411 (March 2002) titled
"Improving the Efficiency of a Multicast File Transfer Tool Based on ALC"
AUTHORS
Vincent ROCA (INRIA Rhone-Alpes, Planete project)
Julien LABOURE (INRIA Rhone-Alpes, Planete project)
$Id: fcastn.man.1,v 1.2 2003/10/27 09:55:47 roca Exp $
Index
- NAME
-
- SYNOPSIS
-
- DESCRIPTION
-
- OPTIONS
-
- EXAMPLE
-
- COPYRIGHTS
-
- SEE ALSO
-
- AUTHORS
-
This document was created by
man2html,
using the manual pages.
Time: 13:49:41 GMT, November 26, 2003