[comp.os.v] RETRY Reply code

bawtree@lccr.sfu.CDN (Hugh Bawtree) (12/08/88)

Can you please tell me what the RETRY reply code means?

In particular, I would like to know what to do if I receive this
reply code after attempting to Send to a remote team.  Does RETRY
indicate the remote team has died, or does it just mean the kernel
had to try several times before successfully sending the message?
I.e. is RETRY a serious error or merely an informative warning?
Should I code all routines that do Sends the same way as the Read
function in Section B.7 of the V-system 6.0 Reference Manual?

Thanks for your help,

Hugh Bawtree
bawtree@cs.sfu.ca

cheriton@PESCADERO.STANFORD.EDU (David Cheriton) (12/08/88)

RETRY is supposed to only be used by a server when the server protocol
defines a sensible client action.  So, the I/O protocol defines that
the server can respond with a RETRY and an indication of the bytes read
or written.  The client is supposed to reissue the operation for the
remaining bytes to read or write.
  Thus, one should not have to anticipate receiving a RETRY in response to
an arbitrary Send.