To run a DSOM application, the DSOM daemon, somdd, must be started:

• On AIX or OS/2, the daemon can be started manually from the command line, or could be started automatically from a start-up script run at boot time. It may be run in the background with the commands somdd& on AIX, and start somdd on OS/2. (Thesomdd command has the following syntax:

  somdd [-q]
  

  where the optional -q flag signifies "quiet" mode. By default, somdd will produce a" ready" message when the DSOM daemon is ready to process requests, and it will produce diagnostic messages as errors are encountered if the SOMDDEBUG environment variable is set to 1. In quiet mode, however, the "ready" message will not appear, and diagnostic messages will not appear even if SOMDEBUG is set. Alternatively, if the SOMDMESSAGELOG environment variable is set, diagnostic error messages will be sent directly to the specified message log file, regardless of whether the -q flag is specified.

• On Windows, the daemon can be started with the DSOM Daemon icon in the SOM icon group or started in Windows from the Run option of the file menu. The DSOM Daemon icon will change colors to indicate that the daemon is ready, after which client and server programs can be started.

The somdd daemon is responsible for "binding" a client process to a server process and will activate the desired server if necessary. The binding procedure is such that the client will consult the Implementation Repository to find out which machine contains a desired server, and will then contact the DSOM daemon on the server's machine to retrieve the server's communications address (a port). Servers are activated dynamically as separate processes.