sub initial_tie {

  my ($aref, $what, $cont) = @_;
  my @do = @$aref;
  if (defined $what) {

    $cont && (undef $cont) || ($cont = 1);
    @do = splice(@do, $what, $cont)

  }
  while (@do) {

    my $data = shift @do;
    my $cmd;
    $cmd = "tie($data->[0], 'IPC::Shareable',
           {key     => '$data->[1]',
            create  => $data->[2],
            mode    => $data->[3],
            size    => $data->[4],
            destroy => $data->[5]});";
    $result = eval $cmd;
    if ($data->[6]++ > 3) {
      &Log("*** initial_tie giving up on $data->[0] ***");
    } elsif (not defined $result) {
      # create if necessary
      $data->[2] = 1;
      push(@do, $data);
    }
  }

}