This standard defines a set of system application program interfaces to operating
system services. These interfaces provide access via the Ada programming language
to the same operating system services for which C-language interfaces are specified
in ISO/IEC 9945-1:1996 f2g c
1)2) and IEEE P1003.1g fB14g.
The purpose of this standard is to support application portability at the Ada source
code level. This standard is intended to be used by both application developers and
system implementors.
This standard is intended to be compatible with implementations of the 1995 revision
to the Ada language standard (ISO/IEC 8652:1995 f1g). Fall-back approaches
compatible with implementations of the original Ada language standard (ISO/IEC
8652:1987 fB5g) are also provided (see 1.3).
This standard is intended to contain no specifications that conflict with “Year 2000”
requirements. c
This standard comprises three major components:
— Definitions for terminology and concepts, and definitions and specifications that
govern program structures, language-system interaction, and related requirements.
— Definitions of the specific Ada interfaces to the system services defined by the
POSIX standards, presented in the form of Ada packages.
— Interpretations of Ada semantics with respect to the POSIX standards.
The following areas are outside the scope of this standard:
(1) User interface (shell) and commands associated with Ada program development.
(2) Ada bindings to the archive/interchange file formats for tar and cpio.
(3) Network protocols.
(4) Graphics and windowing interfaces.
(5) Database management system interfaces.
(6) Object or binary code portability.
(7) System configuration and resource availability.
(8) Interfaces to the Ada runtime system.
When the XTI Detailed Network Interface option and/or the Sockets Detailed Network Interface
option are supported, then a set of DNI’s (see 2.2.3.26) are also within the scope
of this standard. A DNI is intended to provide access to protocol-specific features of
the underlying network for highly portable applications that need access to sophisticated
network features. The DNI’s are based on the SPG4 XTI and 4.4 BSD socket
specifications.
The following areas are outside of the scope of the DNI’s:
— Interface to manipulate underlying protocol implementations
— Network management interface
— Interface to manipulate performance-specific features
— Definition for protocol address formats c
This standard describes the external characteristics and facilities that are of importance
to applications developers, rather than the implementation approaches that
may be employed to achieve them. Special emphasis is placed on those facilities and
capabilities needed for the broad spectrum of applications.
This standard has been defined exclusively at the source code level. The objective is
that a Strictly Conforming POSIX.5 Application can be compiled to execute on any
conforming implementation, within the portability of the application Ada code itself.