M_PROTO

The M_PROTO message contains control information and associated data. The message format is one or more M_PROTO message blocks followed by zero or more M_DATA message blocks. The semantics of the M_DATA and M_PROTO message blocks are determined by the STREAMS module that receives the message.

On the write side, the user can only generate M_PROTO messages containing one M_PROTO message block.

The M_PROTO message block typically contains implementation dependent control information. M_PROTO messages are generally sent bidirectionally on a stream, and their contents can be passed between a process and the stream head. The contents of the first message block of an M_PROTO message is generally referred to as the control part, and the contents of any following M_DATA message blocks are referred to as the data part. In the getmsg(2) and putmsg(2), the control and data parts are passed separately.

The format of M_PROTO and M_PCPROTO (generically PROTO) messages sent upstream to the stream head allows multiple PROTO blocks at the beginning of the message although its use is not recommended. getmsg(2)) compacts the blocks into a single control part when passing them to the user process.