MPE/iX Intrinsics Reference Manual (32650-90875)

16 Chapter1

Introduction

What Is an Intrinsic?

The term intrinsic refers to any external system or subsystem. However, under MPE/iX

this term has a more speciﬁc meaning. To qualify as a true Hewlett-Packard documented

and user-callable intrinsic, it must meet the following criteria:

• An intrinsic is a Hewlett-Packard supported external interface to an operating system

or subsystem service.

• An intrinsic performs type and bounds checks on parameter values before it uses them,

thus protecting the operating system and the user from one another.

• An intrinsic is documented in a Hewlett-Packard manual.

• If an intrinsic is enhanced, its interface, capabilities, and feature set remain backward

compatible.

• A process may call an intrinsic from any Hewlett-Packard supported programming

language.

• An intrinsic differs from other system library procedures

Hewlett-Packard subsystems and applications can also provide interfaces that meet the

deﬁnition of an intrinsic. Refer to the MPE/iX Documentation Guide for further

information.

NOTE

You can deﬁne routines for access as if they were intrinsics and place them in

new or existing intrinsic ﬁles and libraries.