global

global

Module

global

Module summary

A global name registration facility.

Description

This module consists of the following services:

• Registration of global names
• Global locks
• Maintenance of the fully connected network

These services are controlled through the process global_name_server that exists on every node. The global name server starts automatically when a node is started. With the term global is meant over a system consisting of many Erlang nodes.

The ability to globally register names is a central concept in the programming of distributed Erlang systems. In this module, the equivalent of the register/2 and whereis/1 BIFs (for local name registration) are provided, but for a network of Erlang nodes. A registered name is an alias for a