Module miow::pipe

Interprocess Communication pipes

A pipe is a section of shared memory that processes use for communication. The process that creates a pipe is the pipe server. A process that connects to a pipe is a pipe client. One process writes information to the pipe, then the other process reads the information from the pipe. This overview describes how to create, manage, and use pipes.

There are two types of pipes: anonymous pipes and named pipes. Anonymous pipes require less overhead than named pipes, but offer limited services.

Anonymous pipes

An anonymous pipe is an unnamed, one-way pipe that typically transfers data between a parent process and a child process. Anonymous pipes are always local; they cannot be used for communication over a network.

Named pipes

A named pipe is a named, one-way or duplex pipe for communication between the pipe server and one or more pipe clients. All instances of a named pipe share the same pipe name, but each instance has its own buffers and handles, and provides a separate conduit for client/server communication. The use of instances enables multiple pipe clients to use the same named pipe simultaneously.

Any process can access named pipes, subject to security checks, making named pipes an easy form of communication between related or unrelated processes.

Any process can act as both a server and a client, making peer-to-peer communication possible. As used here, the term pipe server refers to a process that creates a named pipe, and the term pipe client refers to a process that connects to an instance of a named pipe.

Named pipes can be used to provide communication between processes on the same computer or between processes on different computers across a network. If the server service is running, all named pipes are accessible remotely. If you intend to use a named pipe locally only, deny access to NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK or switch to local RPC.

References

• win32 pipe docs

Structs

AnonRead	Readable half of an anonymous pipe.
AnonWrite	Writable half of an anonymous pipe.
NamedPipe	A named pipe that can accept connections.
NamedPipeBuilder	A builder structure for creating a new named pipe.

Functions

anonymous	Creates a new anonymous in-memory pipe, returning the read/write ends of the pipe.
connect	A convenience function to connect to a named pipe.