M_PROTO

Intended to contain control information and associated data. The message format is one or more (see note) M_PROTO message blocks followed by zero or more M_DATA message blocks. The semantics of the M_DATA and M_PROTO message block are determined by the STREAMS module that receives the message.

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.

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

Although its use is not recommended, 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. getmsg(2)) compacts the blocks into a single control part when passing them to the user process.