pvm_initsend

C: int bufid = pvm_initsend(int encoding)
M: bufid = pvm_initsend(encoding)

The routine pvm_initsend clears the send buffer and prepares it for packing a new message. The encoding scheme used for the packing is set by encoding. The buffer identifier is returned in bufid. The encoding options are:

0 (PvmDataDefault) XDR encoding is used by default because PVM can not know if the user is going to add a heterogeneous machine before this message is sent. If the user knows that the next message will only be sent to a machine that understands the native format, then he can use PvmDataRaw encoding and save on encoding costs.

1 (PvmDataRaw) no encoding is done. Messages are sent in there original format. If the receiving process can not read this format, then it will return an error during unpacking.

2 (PvmDataInPlace) data left in place. The message buffer only contains the sizes and pointers to the items to be sent. When pvm_send is called the items are copied directly out of the user's memory. This option decreases the number of times a message is copied at the expense of requiring the user to not modify the items between the time they are packed and the time they are sent.