Node:Special Network, Next:Special Caveats, Previous:Special Process, Up:Special Files
Starting with version 3.1 of gawk, awk programs
can open a two-way
TCP/IP connection, acting as either a client or a server.
This is done using a special file name of the form:
/inet/protocol/local-port/remote-host/remote-port
The protocol is one of tcp, udp, or raw,
and the other fields represent the other essential pieces of information
for making a networking connection.
These file names are used with the |& operator for communicating
with a coprocess
(see Two-Way Communications with Another Process).
This is an advanced feature, mentioned here only for completeness.
Full discussion is delayed until
Using gawk for Network Programming.