Virtual Connection State Machine

State [Unbound]
    Event [VC-Open]
	Event_Enqueue_Head([VC-Open)])
	State_Change([Bound, Unconnected])

State [Bound, Unconnected]
    Event [VC-Open]
	/* An operation involved outgoing communcation was requested for this
	 * virtual connection.  Before we can perform such a request, we need
	 * to establish a real connection with the destination process.  We
	 * also may need to initialize at least the receive side state machine
	 * now so that any unexpected incoming packets arriving shortly after
	 * connection establishment are properly handled.  We could intialize
	 * send state machine, but it can't actually start sending until the
	 * connection has been established.
	 */

        initialize send and recv state machines
	initiate connection establishment

        XXX - we need one or more method functions for performing the above
	      stated tasks

	State_Change([Connecting], [initiate connection])


State [Connecting]
    XXX - we an mechanism for signalling the success or failure of the
	  connection establishment
					     
    Event [Success]
        /*
	 * Connection establishment was successful.  Now we need to sure the
	 * send state machine gets started (or moved out a "connection
	 * pending" state).
	 */
	 State_Change([Connected]);

    Event [Error]
	/*
	 * Connection establishment failed.  Too bad...we assume that the
	 * method has already worn itself out trying to make this connection
	 * happen, so we are just going to admit failure and give up.
	 */
        State_Change([Failed]);


State [Connected]
    Event [VC-Close]
	XXX - we need a way to make a close request

	/*
         * A connection close has been requested.  At the moment, we only
         * envision this happening when communicator spanning multiple process
         * groups is destroyed.  The requesting routine should ensure that all
         * outstanding requests are satisfied or cancelled before making a
         * close request.  Since the destruction of a communicator is a
         * collective operation, meeting this requirement shouldn't be
         * difficult.
         */
	close real connection
	signal 
	State_Change([Bound, Unconnected],[close connection])

    Event [Error]
	/*
	 * The connection fell over.  At the moment, this is a permanent
	 * failure.  Some additional states would need to be added here and
	 * to the send and recv state machines in order to handle
	 * connection re-establishment.
	 */
        State_Change([Failed]);


State [Failed]
    /*
     * At the moment, virtual connection failures are permanent.
     */