<?xml version="1.0" encoding="latin1" ?>
<!DOCTYPE erlref SYSTEM "erlref.dtd">
<erlref>
<header>
<copyright>
<year>2011</year>
<holder>Ericsson AB. All Rights Reserved.</holder>
</copyright>
<legalnotice>
The contents of this file are subject to the Erlang Public License,
Version 1.1, (the "License"); you may not use this file except in
compliance with the License. You should have received a copy of the
Erlang Public License along with this software. If not, it can be
retrieved online at http://www.erlang.org/.
Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS"
basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See
the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations
under the License.
</legalnotice>
<title>diameter(3)</title>
<prepared>Anders Svensson</prepared>
<responsible></responsible>
<docno></docno>
<approved></approved>
<checked></checked>
<date></date>
<rev>%VSN%</rev>
<file>diameter.xml</file>
</header>
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<module>diameter</module>
<modulesummary>Main API of the diameter application.</modulesummary>
<description>
<p>
This module provides the interface with which a user
creates a service that sends and receives messages using the
Diameter protocol as defined in RFC 3588.</p>
<p>
Basic usage consists of creating a representation of a
locally implemented Diameter peer and its capabilities with <seealso
marker="#start_service">start_service/2</seealso>, adding transport
capability using <seealso
marker="#add_transport">add_transport/2</seealso> and sending Diameter
requests and receiving Diameter answers with <seealso
marker="#call">call/4</seealso>.
Incoming Diameter requests are communicated as callbacks to a
<seealso
marker="diameter_app">diameter_app(3)</seealso> callback modules as
specified in the service configuration.</p>
<p>
Beware the difference between <em>diameter application</em> and
<em>Diameter application</em>.
The former refers to the Erlang application named diameter whose main
api is defined here, the latter to an application of the Diameter
protocol in the sense of RFC 3588.
More generally, capitalized Diameter refers to the RFC
and diameter to this implementation.</p>
<p>
The diameter application must be started before calling functions in
this module.</p>
</description>
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<section>
<title>DATA TYPES</title>
<taglist>
<tag><c>Address()</c></tag>
<tag><c>DiameterIdentity()</c></tag>
<tag><c>Time()</c></tag>
<tag><c>Unsigned32()</c></tag>
<tag><c>UTF8String()</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Types corresponding to RFC 3588 AVP Data Formats.
Defined in <seealso marker="diameter_dict">diameter_dict(4)</seealso>.</p>
<marker id="application_alias"/>
</item>
<tag><c>application_alias() = term()</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
A name identifying a Diameter application in
service configuration passed to <seealso
marker="#start_service">start_service/2</seealso> and passed to
<seealso marker="#call">call/4</seealso> when sending requests
belonging to the application.</p>
<marker id="application_module"/>
</item>
<tag><c>application_module() = Mod | [Mod | ExtraArgs]</c></tag>
<item>
<code>
Mod = atom()
ExtraArgs = list()
</code>
<p>
A module implementing the callback interface defined in <seealso
marker="diameter_app">diameter_app(3)</seealso>, along with any
extra arguments to be appended to those documented for the interface.
Any extra arguments are appended to the documented list of arguments for
each function.
Note that additional arguments specific to an outgoing request be
specified to <seealso marker="#call">call/4</seealso>, in which case
the call-specific arguments are appended to any specified with the
callback module.</p>
<marker id="application_opt"/>
</item>
<tag><c>application_opt()</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Options defining a Diameter application as configured in an
<c>application</c> option passed to
<seealso marker="#start_service">start_service/2</seealso>.</p>
<taglist>
<tag><c>{alias, application_alias()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
An unique identifier for the application in the scope of the
service.
Optional, defaults to the value of the <c>dictionary</c> option.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{dictionary, atom()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
The name of an encode/decode module for the Diameter
messages defined by the application.
These modules are generated from a specification file whose format is
documented in <seealso
marker="diameter_dict">diameter_dict(4)</seealso>.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{module, application_module()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
A callback module with which messages of the Diameter application are
handled.
See <seealso marker="diameter_app">diameter_app(3)</seealso> for
information on the required interface and semantics.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{state, term()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
The initial callback state.
Defaults to the value of the <c>alias</c> option if unspecified.
The prevailing state is passed to certain
<seealso marker="diameter_app">diameter_app(3)</seealso>
callbacks, which can then return a new state.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{call_mutates_state, true|false}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Specifies whether or not the <seealso
marker="diameter_app#pick_peer">pick_peer/4</seealso>
application callback (following from a call to
<seealso marker="#call">call/4</seealso>)
can modifiy state,
Defaults to <c>false</c> if unspecified.</p>
<p>
Note that <seealso
marker="diameter_app#pick_peer">pick_peer</seealso> callbacks are
serialized when these are allowed to modify state, which is a
potential performance bottleneck.
A simple Diameter client may suffer no ill effects from using mutable
state but a server or agent that responds to incoming request but
sending its own requests should probably avoid it.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{answer_errors, callback|report|discard}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Determines the manner in which incoming answer messages containing
decode errors are handled.
If <c>callback</c> then errors result in a <seealso
marker="diameter_app#handle_answer">handle_answer/4</seealso>
callback in the same fashion as for <seealso
marker="diameter_app#handle_request">handle_request/3</seealso>, in the
<c>errors</c> field of the <c>diameter_packet</c> record passed into
the callback.
If <c>report</c> then an answer containing errors is discarded
without a callback and a warning report is written to the log.
If <c>discard</c> then an answer containing errors is silently
discarded without a callback.
In both the <c>report</c> and <c>discard</c> cases the return value
for the <seealso marker="#call">call/4</seealso> invocation in
question is as if a callback had taken place and returned
<c>{error, failure}</c>.</p>
<p>
Defaults to <c>report</c> if unspecified.</p>
</item>
</taglist>
<marker id="call_opt"/>
</item>
<tag><c>call_opt()</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Options available to <seealso marker="#call">call/4</seealso> when
sending an outgoing Diameter request.</p>
<taglist>
<tag><c>{extra, list()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Extra arguments to append to callbacks to the callback
module in question.
These are appended to any extra arguments configured with the callback
itself.
Multiple options append to the argument list.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{filter, peer_filter()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
A filter to apply to the list of available peers before passing them to
the <seealso marker="diameter_app#pick_peer">pick_peer/4</seealso>
callback for the application in question.
Multiple options are equivalent a single <c>all</c> filter on the
corresponding list of filters.
Defaults to <c>none</c>.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{timeout, Unsigned32()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
The number of milliseconds after which the request should
timeout.
Defaults to 5000.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>detach</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Causes <seealso marker="#call">call/4</seealso> to return <c>ok</c> as
soon as the request in
question has been encoded instead of waiting for and returning
the result from a subsequent
<seealso marker="diameter_app#handle_answer">handle_answer/4</seealso>
or <seealso
marker="diameter_app#handle_error">handle_error/4</seealso>
callback.</p>
</item>
</taglist>
<p>
An invalid option will cause <seealso marker="#call">call/4</seealso>
to fail.</p>
<marker id="capability"/>
</item>
<tag><c>capability()</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
AVP values used in outgoing CER/CEA messages during capabilities exchange.
Can be configured both on a service and a transport, the latter taking
precedence over the former.</p>
<taglist>
<tag><c>{'Origin-Host', DiameterIdentity()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Value of the Origin-Host AVP in outgoing messages.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{'Origin-Realm', DiameterIdentity()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Value of the Origin-Realm AVP in outgoing messages.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{'Host-IP-Address', [Address()]}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Values of Host-IP-Address AVPs.
Optional.</p>
<p>
The list of addresses is available to the start function of a
transport module, which either uses them as is or returns a new list
(typically as configured as <c>transport_config()</c> on the
transport module in question) in order for the correct list of
addresses to be sent in capabilities exchange messages.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{'Vendor-Id', Unsigned32()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Value of the Vendor-Id AVP sent in an outgoing capabilities
exchange message.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{'Product-Name', UTF8String()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Value of the Product-Name AVP sent in an outgoing capabilities
exchange message.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{'Origin-State-Id', Unsigned32()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Value of Origin-State-Id to be included in outgoing messages sent by
diameter itself.
In particular, the AVP will be included in CER/CEA and DWR/DWA messages.
Optional.</p>
<p>
Setting a value of <c>0</c> (zero) is equivalent to not setting a
value as documented in RFC 3588.
The function <seealso
marker="#origin_state_id">origin_state_id/0</seealso>
can be used as to retrieve a value that is set when the diameter
application is started.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{'Supported-Vendor-Id', [Unsigned32()]}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Values of Supported-Vendor-Id AVPs sent in an outgoing
capabilities exchange message.
Optional, defaults to the empty list.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{'Auth-Application-Id', [Unsigned32()]}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Values of Auth-Application-Id AVPs sent in an outgoing
capabilities exchange message.
Optional, defaults to the empty list.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{'Inband-Security-Id', [Unsigned32()]}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Values of Inband-Security-Id AVPs sent in an outgoing
capabilities exchange message.
Optional, defaults to the empty list, which is equivalent to a
list containing only 0 (= NO_INBAND_SECURITY).</p>
<p>
If 1 (= TLS) is specified then TLS is selected if the CER/CEA received
from the peer offers it.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{'Acct-Application-Id', [Unsigned32()]}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Values of Acct-Application-Id AVPs sent in an outgoing
capabilities exchange message.
Optional, defaults to the empty list.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{'Vendor-Specific-Application-Id', [Grouped()]}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Values of Vendor-Specific-Application-Id AVPs sent in
an outgoing capabilities exchange message.
Optional, defaults to the empty list.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{'Firmware-Revision', Unsigned32()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Value of the Firmware-Revision AVP sent in an outgoing capabilities
exchange message.
Optional.</p>
</item>
</taglist>
<p>
Note that each tuple communicates one or more AVP values.
It is an error to specify duplicate tuples.</p>
<marker id="evaluable"/>
</item>
<tag><c>evaluable() = {M,F,A} | fun() | [evaluable() | A]</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
An expression that can be evaluated as a function in the following
sense.</p>
<code>
eval([{M,F,A} | T]) ->
apply(M, F, T ++ A);
eval([[F|A] | T]) ->
eval([F | T ++ A]);
eval([F|A]) ->
apply(F, A);
eval(F) ->
eval([F]).
</code>
<p>
Evaluating an evaluable() <c>E</c> on an argument list <c>A</c>
is meant in the sense of <c>eval([E|A])</c>.</p>
<p>
Beware of using local funs (that is, fun expressions not of the
form <c>fun Module:Name/Arity</c>) in situations in which the fun is
not short-lived and code is to be upgraded at runtime since any
processes retaining such a fun will have a reference to old code.</p>
<marker id="peer_filter"/>
</item>
<tag><c>peer_filter() = term()</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
A filter passed to <seealso marker="#call">call/4</seealso>
in order to select candidate peers for a
<seealso marker="diameter_app#pick_peer">pick_peer/4</seealso>
callback.
Has one of the following types.</p>
<taglist>
<tag><c>none</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Matches any peer.
This is a convenience that provides a filter equivalent to no
filter at all.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>host</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Matches only those peers whose <c>Origin-Host</c> has the same value
as <c>Destination-Host</c> in the outgoing request in question,
or any peer if the request does not contain
a <c>Destination-Host</c> AVP.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>realm</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Matches only those peers whose <c>Origin-Realm</c> has the same value
as <c>Destination-Realm</c> in the outgoing request in question,
or any peer if the request does not contain
a <c>Destination-Realm</c> AVP.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{host, any|DiameterIdentity()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Matches only those peers whose <c>Origin-Host</c> has the
specified value, or all peers if the atom <c>any</c>.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{realm, any|DiameterIdentity()</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Matches only those peers whose <c>Origin-Realm</c> has the
value, or all peers if the atom <c>any</c>.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{eval, evaluable()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Matches only those peers for which the specified evaluable() returns
<c>true</c> on the connection's <c>diameter_caps</c> record.
Any other return value or exception is equivalent to <c>false</c>.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{neg, peer_filter()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Matches only those peers not matched by the specified filter.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{all, [peer_filter()]}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Matches only those peers matched by each filter of the specified list.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{any, [peer_filter()]}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Matches only those peers matched by at least one filter of the
specified list.</p>
</item>
</taglist>
<p>
Note that the <c>host</c> and <c>realm</c> filters examine the
outgoing request as passed to <seealso marker="#call">call/4</seealso>,
assuming that this is a record- or list-valued message() as documented
in <seealso marker="diameter_app">diameter_app(3)</seealso>, and that
the message contains at most one of each AVP.
If this is not the case then the <c>{host|realm, DiameterIdentity()}</c>
filters must be used to achieve the desired result.
Note also that an empty host/realm (which should not be typical)
is equivalent to an unspecified one for the purposes of filtering.</p>
<p>
An invalid filter is equivalent to <c>{any, []}</c>, a filter
that matches no peer.</p>
<marker id="service_event"/>
</item>
<tag><c>service_event() = #diameter_event{}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Event message sent to processes that have subscribed using <seealso
marker="#subscribe">subscribe/1</seealso>.</p>
<p>
The <c>info</c> field of the event record can be one of the
following.</p>
<taglist>
<tag><c>{up, Ref, Peer, Config, Pkt}</c></tag>
<tag><c>{up, Ref, Peer, Config}</c></tag>
<tag><c>{down, Ref, Peer, Config}</c></tag>
<item>
<code>
Ref = transport_ref()
Peer = diameter_app:peer()
Config = {connect|listen, [transport_opt()]}
Pkt = #diameter_packet{}
</code>
<p>
Reports that the RFC 3539 watchdog state machine has
transitioned into (<c>up</c>) or out of (<c>down</c>) the open
state.
If a <c>diameter_packet</c> record is present in an <c>up</c> tuple
then there has been an exchange of capabilities exchange messages and
the record contains the received CER or CEA, otherwise the
connection has reestablished without the loss or transport
connectivity.</p>
<p>
Note that a single up/down event for a given peer corresponds to
as many peer_up/down callbacks as there are Diameter
applications shared by the peer, as determined during capablilities
exchange.
That is, the event communicates connectivity with the
peer as a whole while the callbacks communicate connectivity with
respect to individual Diameter applications.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{reconnect, Ref, Opts}</c></tag>
<item>
<code>
Ref = transport_ref()
Opts = [transport_opt()]
</code>
<p>
A connecting transport is attempting to establish/reestablish a
transport connection with a peer following <c>reconnect_timer</c> or
<c>watchdog_timer</c> expiry.</p>
</item>
</taglist>
<p>
For forward compatibility, a subscriber should be prepared to receive
<c>diameter_event.info</c> of forms other than those documented
above.</p>
<marker id="service_name"/>
</item>
<tag><c>service_name() = term()</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
The name of a service as passed to <seealso
marker="#start_service">start_service/2</seealso> and with which the
service is identified.
There can be at most one service with a given name on a given node.
Note that <c>erlang:make_ref/0</c> can be used to generate a service name
that is somewhat unique.</p>
<marker id="service_opt"/>
</item>
<tag><c>service_opt()</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Options accepted by <seealso
marker="#start_service">start_service/2</seealso>.
Can be any <c>capability()</c> tuple as
well as the following.</p>
<taglist>
<tag><c>{application, [application_opt()]}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Defines a Diameter application supported by the service.</p>
<p>
A service must define one application for each Diameter application it
intends to support.
For an outgoing Diameter request, the application is specified by
passing the desired application's <c>application_alias()</c> to
<seealso marker="#call">call/4</seealso>, while for an
incoming request the application identifier in the message
header determines the application (and callback module), the
application identifier being specified in the <seealso
marker="diameter_dict">dictionary</seealso> file defining the
application.</p>
</item>
</taglist>
<marker id="transport_opt"/>
</item>
<tag><c>transport_opt()</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
Options accepted by <seealso
marker="#add_transport">add_transport/2</seealso>.</p>
<taglist>
<tag><c>{transport_module, atom()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
A module implementing a transport process as defined in <seealso
marker="diameter_transport">diameter_transport(3)</seealso>.
Defaults to <c>diameter_tcp</c> if unspecified.</p>
<p>
The interface required of a transport module is documented in <seealso
marker="diameter_transport">diameter_transport(3)</seealso>.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{transport_config, term()}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
A term passed as the third argument to the <seealso
marker="diameter_transport#start">start/3</seealso> function of
the relevant <c>transport_module</c> in order to start a transport process.
Defaults to the empty list if unspecified.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{applications, [application_alias()]}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
The list of Diameter applications to which usage of the transport
should be restricted.
Defaults to all applications configured on the service
in question.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{capabilities, [capability()]}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>
AVP's used to construct outgoing CER/CEA messages.
Any AVP specified takes precedence over a corresponding value specified
for the service in question.</p>
<p>
Specifying a capability as a transport option
may be particularly appropriate for Inband-Security-Id in case
TLS is desired over TCP as implemented by
<seealso marker="diameter_tcp">diameter_tcp(3)</seealso> but
not over SCTP as implemented by
<seealso marker="diameter_sctp">diameter_sctp(3)</seealso>.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{watchdog_timer, TwInit}</c></tag>
<item>
<code>
TwInit = Unsigned32()
| {M,F,A}
</code>
<p>
The RFC 3539 watchdog timer.
An integer value is interpreted as the RFC's TwInit in milliseconds,
a jitter of ± 2 seconds being added at each rearming of the
timer to compute the RFC's Tw.
An MFA is expected to return the RFC's Tw directly, with jitter
applied, allowing the jitter calculation to be performed by
the callback.</p>
<p>
An integer value must be at least 6000 as required by RFC 3539.
Defaults to 30000 if unspecified.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{reconnect_timer, Tc}</c></tag>
<item>
<code>
Tc = Unsigned32()
</code>
<p>
For a connecting transport, the RFC 3588 Tc timer, in milliseconds.
Note that this timer determines the frequency with which the transport
will attempt to establish a connection with its peer only <em>before</em>
an initial connection is established: once there is an initial
connection it's watchdog_timer that determines the frequency of
reconnection attempts, as required by RFC 3539.</p>
<p>
For a listening transport, the timer specifies the time after which a
previously connected peer will be forgotten: a connection after this time is
regarded as an initial connection rather than a reestablishment,
causing the RFC 3539 state machine to pass to state OPEN rather than
REOPEN.
Note that these semantics are not goverened by the RFC and
that a listening transport's reconnect_timer should be greater than its
peers's Tc plus jitter.</p>
<p>
Defaults to 30000 for a connecting transport and 60000 for a listening
transport.</p>
</item>
</taglist>
<p>
Unrecognized options are silently ignored but are returned unmodified
by <seealso
marker="#service_info">service_info/2</seealso> and can be referred to
in predicate functions passed to <seealso
marker="#remove_transport">remove_transport/2</seealso>.</p>
</item>
</taglist>
</section>
<marker id="add_transport"/>
<funcs>
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<func>
<name>add_transport(SvcName, {connect|listen, Options})
-> {ok, Ref} | {error, Reason}</name>
<fsummary>Add transport capability to a service.</fsummary>
<type>
<v>SvcName = service_name()</v>
<v>Options = [transport_opt()]</v>
<v>Ref = ref()</v>
<v>Reason = term()</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>
Add transport capability to a service.</p>
<p>
The service will start a transport process(es) in order to establish a
connection with the peer, either by connecting to the peer
(<c>connect</c>) or by accepting incoming connection requests
(<c>listen</c>).
A connecting transport establishes transport connections with at most
one peer, an listening transport potentially with many.</p>
<p>
The diameter application takes responsibility for exchanging
CER/CEA with the peer.
Upon successful completion of capabilities exchange the service
calls each relevant application module's <seealso
marker="diameter_app#peer_up">peer_up/3</seealso> callback
after which the caller can exchange Diameter messages with the peer over
the transport.
In addition to CER/CEA, the service takes responsibility for the
handling of DWR/DWA and required by RFC 3539 as well as for DPR/DPA.</p>
<p>
The returned reference uniquely identifies the transport within the
scope of the service.
Note that the function returns before a transport connection has been
established.
It is not an error to add a transport to a service that has not yet
been configured: a service can be started after configuring
transports.</p>
<marker id="call"/>
</desc>
</func>
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<func>
<name>call(SvcName, App, Request, Options) -> ok | Answer | {error, Reason}</name>
<fsummary>Send a Diameter request message.</fsummary>
<type>
<v>SvcName = service_name()</v>
<v>App = application_alias()</v>
<v>Request = diameter_app:message() | term()</v>
<v>Answer = term()</v>
<v>Options = [call_opt()]</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>
Send a Diameter request message and possibly return the answer or error.</p>
<p>
<c>App</c> identifies the Diameter application in which the request is
defined and callbacks to the corresponding callback module
will follow as described below and in <seealso
marker="diameter_app">diameter_app(3)</seealso>.
Unless the <c>detach</c> option has been specified to cause an earlier
return, the call returns either when an answer message is received
from the peer or an error occurs.
In the case of an answer, the return value is as returned by a
<seealso
marker="diameter_app#handle_answer">handle_answer/4</seealso>
callback.
In the case of an error, whether or not the error is returned directly
by diameter or from a <seealso
marker="diameter_app#handle_error">handle_error/4</seealso>
callback depends on whether or not the outgoing request is
successfully encoded for transmission from the peer, the cases being
documented below.</p>
<p>
If there are no suitable peers, or if
<seealso marker="diameter_app#pick_peer">pick_peer/4</seealso>
rejects them by returning 'false', then <c>{error, no_connection}</c>
is returned.
Otherwise <seealso marker="diameter_app#pick_peer">pick_peer/4</seealso>
is followed by a
<seealso
marker="diameter_app#prepare_request">prepare_request/3</seealso>
callback, the message is encoded and sent.</p>
<p>
There are several error cases which may prevent an
answer from being received and passed to a
<seealso marker="diameter_app#handle_answer">handle_answer/4</seealso>
callback:</p>
<list>
<item>
<p>
If the initial encode of the outgoing request
fails, then the request process fails and <c>{error, encode}</c>
is returned.</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
If the request is successfully encoded and sent but
the answer times out then a
<seealso marker="diameter_app#handle_error">handle_error/4</seealso>
callback takes place with <c>Reason = timeout</c>.</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
If the request is successfully encoded and sent but the service in
question is stopped before an answer is received then a
<seealso marker="diameter_app#handle_error">handle_error/4</seealso>
callback takes place <c>Reason = cancel</c>.</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
If the transport connection with the peer goes down after the request
has been sent but before an answer has been received then an attempt
is made to resend the request to an alternate peer.
If no such peer is available, or if the subsequent
<seealso marker="diameter_app#pick_peer">pick_peer/4</seealso>
callback rejects the candidates, then a
<seealso marker="diameter_app#handle_error">handle_error/4</seealso>
callback takes place with <c>Reason = failover</c>.
If a peer is selected then a
<seealso
marker="diameter_app#prepare_retransmit">prepare_retransmit/3</seealso>
callback takes place, after which the semantics are the same as
following an initial
<seealso marker="diameter_app#prepare_request">
prepare_request/3</seealso>
callback.</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
If an encode error takes place during
retransmission then the request process fails and
<c>{error, failure}</c> is returned.</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
If an application callback made in processing the request fails
(pick_peer, prepare_request, prepare_retransmit,
handle_answer or handle_error) then either
<c>{error, encode}</c> or <c>{error, failure}</c>
is returned depending on whether or not there has been an
attempt to send the request over the transport.</p>
</item>
</list>
<p>
Note that <c>{error, encode}</c> is the only return value which
guarantees that the request has <em>not</em> been sent over the
transport.</p>
<marker id="origin_state_id"/>
</desc>
</func>
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<func>
<name>origin_state_id() -> Unsigned32()</name>
<fsummary>Returns a reasonable Origin-State-Id.</fsummary>
<desc>
<p>
Return a reasonable value for use as Origin-State-Id in
outgoing messages.</p>
<p>
The value returned is the number of seconds since 19680120T031408Z,
the first value that can be encoded as a Diameter Time(),
at the time the diameter application was started.</p>
<marker id="remove_transport"/>
</desc>
</func>
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<func>
<name>remove_transport(SvcName, Pred) -> ok</name>
<fsummary>Remove previously added transports.</fsummary>
<type>
<v>SvcName = service_name()</v>
<v>Pred = Fun | MFA | ref() | list() | true | false</v>
<v></v>
<v>Fun = fun((reference(), connect|listen, list()) -> boolean())</v>
<v> | fun((reference(), list()) -> boolean())</v>
<v> | fun((list()) -> boolean())</v>
<v>MFA = {atom(), atom(), list()}</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>
Remove previously added transports.</p>
<p>
<c>Pred</c> determines which transports to remove.
An arity-3-valued <c>Pred</c> removes all transports for which
<c>Pred(Ref, Type, Opts)</c> returns <c>true</c>, where <c>Type</c> and
<c>Opts</c> are as passed to <seealso
marker="#add_transport">add_transport/2</seealso> and <c>Ref</c> is
as returned by the corresponding call.
The remaining forms are equivalent to an arity-3 fun as follows.</p>
<code>
Pred = fun(reference(), list()): fun(Ref, _, Opts) -> Pred(Ref, Opts) end
Pred = fun(list()): fun(_, _, Opts) -> Pred(Opts) end
Pred = reference(): fun(Ref, _, _) -> Pred == Ref end
Pred = list(): fun(_, _, Opts) -> [] == Pred -- Opts end
Pred = true: fun(_, _, _) -> true end
Pred = false: fun(_, _, _) -> false end
Pred = {M,F,A}: fun(Ref, Type, Opts) -> apply(M, F, [Ref, Type, Opts | A]) end
</code>
<p>
Removing a transport causes all associated transport connections to
be broken.
A base application DPR message with
Disconnect-Cause <c>DO_NOT_WANT_TO_TALK_TO_YOU</c> will be sent
to each connected peer before disassociating the transport configuration
from the service and terminating the transport upon reception of
DPA or timeout.</p>
<!-- TODO: document the timeout value, possibly make configurable. -->
<marker id="service_info"/>
</desc>
</func>
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<func>
<name>service_info(SvcName, Item) -> Value</name>
<fsummary>Return specific information about a started service.</fsummary>
<type>
<v>SvcName = service_name()</v>
<v>Value = term()</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>
Return information about a started service.</p>
<marker id="services"/>
</desc>
</func>
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<func>
<name>services() -> [SvcName]</name>
<fsummary>Return the list of started services.</fsummary>
<type>
<v>SvcName = service_name()</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>
Return the list of started services.</p>
<marker id="session_id"/>
</desc>
</func>
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<func>
<name>session_id(Ident) -> OctetString()</name>
<fsummary>Return a value for a Session-Id AVP.</fsummary>
<type>
<v>Ident = DiameterIdentity()</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>
Return a value for a Session-Id AVP.</p>
<p>
The value has the form required by section 8.8 of RFC 3588.
Ident should be the Origin-Host of the peer from which
the message containing the returned value will be sent.</p>
<marker id="start"/>
</desc>
</func>
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<func>
<name>start() -> ok | {error, Reason}</name>
<fsummary>Start the diameter application.</fsummary>
<desc>
<p>
Start the diameter application.</p>
<p>
The diameter application must be started before starting a service.
In a production system this will typically be accomplished by a boot
file, not by calling <c>start/0</c> explicitly.</p>
<marker id="start_service"/>
</desc>
</func>
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<func>
<name>start_service(SvcName, Options) -> ok | {error, Reason}</name>
<fsummary>Start a Diameter service.</fsummary>
<type>
<v>SvcName = service_name()</v>
<v>Options = [service_opt()]</v>
<v>Reason = term()</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>
Start a diameter service.</p>
<p>
A service defines a locally-implemented Diameter peer, specifying the
capabilities of the peer to be used during capabilities exchange and
the Diameter applications that it supports.
Transports are added to a service using <seealso
marker="#add_transport">add_transport/2</seealso>.</p>
<marker id="stop_service"/>
</desc>
</func>
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<func>
<name>stop() -> ok | {error, Reason}</name>
<fsummary>Stop the diameter application.</fsummary>
<desc>
<p>
Stop the diameter application.</p>
<p>
</p>
<marker id="stop_service"/>
</desc>
</func>
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<func>
<name>stop_service(SvcName) -> ok | {error, Reason}</name>
<fsummary>Stop a Diameter service.</fsummary>
<type>
<v>SvcName = service_name()</v>
<v>Reason = term()</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>
Stop a diameter service.</p>
<marker id="subscribe"/>
</desc>
</func>
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<func>
<name>subscribe(SvcName) -> true</name>
<fsummary>Subscribe to event messages.</fsummary>
<type>
<v>SvcName = service_name()</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>
Subscribe to <c>service_event()</c> messages from a service.</p>
<p>
It is not an error to subscribe to events from a service
that does not yet exist.</p>
<marker id="unsubscribe"/>
</desc>
</func>
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<func>
<name>unsubscribe(SvcName) -> true</name>
<fsummary>Unsubscribe to event messages.</fsummary>
<type>
<v>SvcName = service_name()</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>
Unsubscribe to event messages from a service.</p>
</desc>
</func>
</funcs>
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<!-- ===================================================================== -->
<section>
<title>SEE ALSO</title>
<p>
<seealso marker="diameter_app">diameter_app(3)</seealso>,
<seealso marker="diameter_transport">diameter_transport(3)</seealso>,
<seealso marker="diameter_dict">diameter_dict(4)</seealso></p>
</section>
</erlref>
