Methods of Interapplication Communication
The following table summarizes the communication methods that can be used between PV-WAVE and other external applications. Table 3-1: Interapplication Communication Methods and the following section, "Choosing the Best Method", can help you to determine the most appropriate method of interapplication communication to accomplish a desired task. Each method listed is described in detail later in this chapter.
 
Interapplication Communication Methods
Method
Use
LINKNLOAD
A system routine that allows PV-WAVE to call an external function via dynamically linked libraries. It is the simplest method for calling your own C code from PV-WAVE. Allows the transfer of binary data. See "Using LINKNLOAD to Call External Programs".
cwavec
A routine that allows a dynamically linked C program to access PV-WAVE. Data is transferred between the C program and PV-WAVE via the wavevars routine (or PV‑WAVE variable handles if you use the Option Programming Interface).
cwavefor
A routine that allows a dynamically linked FORTRAN program to access PV-WAVE. Data is transferred between the FORTRAN program and PV-WAVE via the wavevars routine
Option Programming
Interface (OPI)
For developers who want to create optional modules that can be loaded explicitly by any PV‑WAVE user. These optional modules can be written in C or FORTRAN, and can contain new system functions or other primitives. For information on OPI, see the PV-WAVE Programmer’s Guide.
Socket OPI
Allows you to treat network connections as streams of bytes that can be read from or written to. With the Socket OPI, you can write client and server applications entirely in PV‑WAVE. The Socket OPI is described in the previous chapter; see "Interapplication Communication Using the Socket OPI".
SSL_connect OPI
The SSL_connect OPI allows PV-WAVE sessions to communicate and exchange data with an SSL-enabled HTTP server (HTTPS). The PV-WAVE SSL_connect OPI uses the OpenSSL library to support the client side of an SSL connection. There is currently no support for PV-WAVE to act as an SSL-enabled server. If you wish to have two PV-WAVE sessions communicate with each other you should use the PV-WAVE socket OPI. See Communicating with an SSL-enabled HTTP server.