14.2. Background#
14.2.1. Messages#
A message is a variable length buffer where information can be stored to support communication. The length of the message and the information stored in that message are user-defined and can be actual data, pointer(s), or empty.
14.2.2. Message Queues#
A message queue permits the passing of messages among tasks and ISRs. Message
queues can contain a variable number of messages. Normally messages are sent
to and received from the queue in FIFO order using the
rtems_message_queue_send directive. However, the
rtems_message_queue_urgent directive can be used to place messages at the
head of a queue in LIFO order.
Synchronization can be accomplished when a task can wait for a message to arrive at a queue. Also, a task may poll a queue for the arrival of a message.
The maximum length message which can be sent is set on a per message queue basis. The message content must be copied in general to/from an internal buffer of the message queue or directly to a peer in certain cases. This copy operation is performed with interrupts disabled. So it is advisable to keep the messages as short as possible.
14.2.3. Building a Message Queue Attribute Set#
In general, an attribute set is built by a bitwise OR of the desired attribute components. The set of valid message queue attributes is provided in the following table:
|
tasks wait by FIFO (default) |
|
tasks wait by priority |
|
local message queue (default) |
|
global message queue |
An attribute listed as a default is not required to appear in the attribute
list, although it is a good programming practice to specify default attributes.
If all defaults are desired, the attribute RTEMS_DEFAULT_ATTRIBUTES should
be specified on this call.
This example demonstrates the attribute_set parameter needed to create a local
message queue with the task priority waiting queue discipline. The
attribute_set parameter to the rtems_message_queue_create directive could
be either RTEMS_PRIORITY or RTEMS_LOCAL | RTEMS_PRIORITY. The
attribute_set parameter can be set to RTEMS_PRIORITY because
RTEMS_LOCAL is the default for all created message queues. If a similar
message queue were to be known globally, then the attribute_set parameter would
be RTEMS_GLOBAL | RTEMS_PRIORITY.
14.2.4. Building a MESSAGE_QUEUE_RECEIVE Option Set#
In general, an option is built by a bitwise OR of the desired option
components. The set of valid options for the rtems_message_queue_receive
directive are listed in the following table:
|
task will wait for a message (default) |
|
task should not wait |
An option listed as a default is not required to appear in the option OR list,
although it is a good programming practice to specify default options. If all
defaults are desired, the option RTEMS_DEFAULT_OPTIONS should be specified
on this call.
This example demonstrates the option parameter needed to poll for a message to
arrive. The option parameter passed to the rtems_message_queue_receive
directive should be RTEMS_NO_WAIT.