The Remote File Access service (RFA) allows you
to access remote files and devices. By using RFA you can, among
other things, create, open, read, write, and close a file that resides
on a remote HP 3000. Since the remote "file" may
be a peripheral device, you can, for example, read from a tape mounted
on a remote system or print local data on a remote printer.The
Remote File Access facility uses the same MPE/iX file system intrinsics
as are employed on a local system. The intrinsics are sent to the
remote environment and executed there. Your local program can call
these intrinsics explicitly or it can use the input/output procedures
specific to the language in which the program is written. You can
also access a remote file or device interactively. You will find
discussions of interactive and programmatic remote file access methods
later in this chapter.
