mars-nwe/doc/PIPE-FS

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The PIPE filesystem arose in answer to the question: how can I save
all or part of a Linux system onto/ via a DOS computer or a Novell
fileserver? The PIPE filesystem was designed as a quick attempt to
solve this problem
In the PIPE filesystem either shell scripts or Linux programs can be
stored. These programs are treated on the client side (eg DOS) like
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simple files. Reading or writing these files via the client causes
a popen of the programs.
The server passes as the first parameter either READ
or WRITE, depending on the mode of the corresponding first read or write
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operation. This allows the PIPE filesystem to provide a direct
interface between client applications and Linux programs.
The problem stated above could then be solved with the following
simple shell script, which was stored in the PIPE-filesystem:
#!/bin/sh
case "$1" in
'WRITE')
cd /u3 && tar -xf - 2>> /tmp/tar.in
# restore directory /u3/mar
;;
'READ')
cd /u3 && tar -cf - mar 2> /dev/null
# save directory /u3/mar
;;
*)
;;
esac
Under DOS this 'Pipe File' can now be 'copied' into a local file using
the Copy command (->save), or the local file can be copied into this
'Pipe File' (->restore).
A simple print operation can be achieved with the following script:
#!/bin/sh
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/usr/bin/lpr
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This allows you to print under dos/windows without capturing.
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In the examples directory there are two pairs of programs,
comm<->unxcomm und sendm<->unxsendm, that provide further examples
of how to use the PIPE-filesystem.
Using comm/unxcomm it is very easy to invoke simple Linux programs
from the client, e.g. ps, lpq, lprm ..
If anyone has other documented applications of the PIPE-filesystem,
or any suggestions about other ways it might be used, I'd be very glad
to hear from them.
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Martin