Evan,
  I believe the un*x equivalent of message files is "named pipes," generally
created with mkfifo.  I'm not really sure it's the appropriate solution for
your problem, but that may just be because I'm not understanding your problem
properly.

TEd
--
Ted Ashton ([log in to unmask]), Info Serv, Southern Adventist University
          ==========================================================
Nobody before the Pythagoreans had thought that mathematical relations held
the secret of the universe. Twenty-five centuries later, Europe is still
blessed and cursed with their heritage. To non-European civilizations, the
idea that numbers are the key to both wisdom and power, seems never to have
occurred.
                        -- Koestler, Arthur (1905- )