UaTk Internal Function and Description _get_input This is a front-end function to the  _check_input( )  function. Each call to  _get_input  will attempt to call  _check_input( )  up to five times. Each call to  _check_input  is made using the variable  $max_timeout, indicating the number of seconds to wait on input. The time-out period can be set using the  SetIOTimeout  method. _send_acknowledgment This function sends an ACK string back to the connection manager. _receive_acknowledgment This function waits for an ACK string from the connection manager. _dump_hash This is an internal debug utility function. It dumps a list of key/value pairs from a hash. _set_dist_mode This function sets the internal variable  $dist_mode  based on the integer arguments provided. _process_command This function is used by the  UaTkMain  method to process a command when detected. Invocation of the command will depend on the type of command. The hash  tk_command  is used to maintain a list of all protocol commands. The hash is defined as “command/terminator tag” for each “key/value” pair, respectively. The value of the terminator tag defines how the command is invoked and where its data is stored. The commands  STARTUP  and  SHUTDOWN  are one-line commands. No data is associated with them, so their terminator tags are   . The commands  USERNAME  and PASSWORD  require a single line of data, so their tag is   _SLD_ . The START_DISCOVER  command does not require data or an ACK sent to the connection manager. Its tag is   _NOA_.  All other commands use the tag   _EOD_ . The   _EOD_   tag also is used in the data stream from the connection manager to indicate end-of-data. Other tags are only used internally in the  tk_command  hash. One-line and double-line commands (that is, those with tags that are not   _EOD_ ) are invoked immediately by the _process_command  function. Multi-line commands (that is, those with an   _EOD_   tag) are invoked after detection of the  _EOD_  command in the data stream from the command processor. This should occur only after all attributes for the command have been found. Developing Your Application in Perl 71 Tivoli®  SecureWay Application Management Toolkit Guide