PMDF System Manager's Guide

Each channel consists of one or more channel programs and an outgoing message queue for storing messages that are destined to be sent to one or more of the systems associated with the channel. Channel programs perform two functions: (1) they transmit messages to remote systems, deleting them from their queue after they are sent, and (2) they accept messages from remote systems, placing them in the channel queues. Note that while a channel program only removes messages from its own queue it can enqueue messages on any queue whatsoever, including its own.

A channel program which initiates a transfer to a remote system on its own is called a "master" program, while a program which accepts transfers initiated by a remote system is called a "slave" program. A channel may be served by a master program, a slave program, or both. Either type of program may or may not be bidirectional; the direction in which a message is travelling may have nothing to do with the type of program that handles it. For example, in the case of a PhoneNet channel, the master and slave programs are both capable of transmitting and receiving messages. An SMTP channel, on the other hand, has a master program that only transmits messages and a slave program that only receives messages. These are, respectively, the SMTP client and server.