Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!whuxl!whuxlm!akgua!gatech!seismo!brl-adm!brl-smoke!gwyn
From: gwyn@brl-smoke.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards
Subject: Re: Process control and communications
Message-ID: <2204@brl-smoke.ARPA>
Date: Sat, 29-Mar-86 18:31:46 EST
Article-I.D.: brl-smok.2204
Posted: Sat Mar 29 18:31:46 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 1-Apr-86 07:19:15 EST
References: <698@watdragon.UUCP>
Reply-To: gwyn@brl.ARPA
Distribution: net
Organization: Ballistic Research Lab (BRL)
Lines: 25

In article <698@watdragon.UUCP> wasaunders@watdragon.UUCP (Parallel Hair???) writes:
>Being fairly new at the unix game I have a question to ask of all you Whee-Zards
>out there ... actually it is more of a problem than a question, but anyway ...
>
>I would like to set up a time-sharing system (a small one). One of the things
>I would like to do is to include a multi-user game which I have been thinking
>of writing. The events during the game are to take place in real time, so
>one possible architecture for the software would be to have one games master,
>with player processes forked from it. When someone logs into my system they
>are given a CI (shell, whatever ....) - if they want to play the game how
>can I associate the player process with their port, and then restore their
>CI when they are one playing?

Assuming you plan to use UNIX:  You can't in general attach a terminal
to an already-running process, so your best bet is to have a game master
process that reads a FIFO, socket, or (if you don't have FIFOs or sockets)
a locked known file to get slave data (part of which for a new slave
would be information on how to send data back to the player), and start
up a fresh slave player process when a new player enters the game.

Games like this have been distributed publicly, for example on USENIX
tapes.  One that was popular at JHU was called "search".

Termination of a fork/execed process from the shell will return to the
shell automatically; no magic required there.