
  [;1m-spec alias() -> Alias when Alias :: reference().[0m

[;;4mSince[0m:
  OTP 24.0

  Create an alias which can be used when sending messages to the
  process that created the alias. When the alias has been
  deactivated, messages sent using the alias will be dropped. An
  alias can be deactivated using [;;4munalias/1[0m. Currently available
  options for [;;4malias/1[0m:

  [;;4m[;;4mexplicit_unalias[0m[0m:
    The alias can only be deactivated via a call to [;;4munalias/1[0m.
    This is also the default behaviour if no options are passed or
    if [;;4malias/0[0m is called.

  [;;4m[;;4mreply[0m[0m:
    The alias will be automatically deactivated when a reply
    message sent via the alias is received. The alias can also
    still be deactivated via a call to [;;4munalias/1[0m.

  Example:

    server() ->
        receive
            {request, AliasReqId, Request} ->
                Result = perform_request(Request),
                AliasReqId ! {reply, AliasReqId, Result}
        end,
        server().
    
    client(ServerPid, Request) ->
        AliasReqId = alias([reply]),
        ServerPid ! {request, AliasReqId, Request},
        %% Alias will be automatically deactivated if we receive a reply
        %% since we used the 'reply' option...
        receive
            {reply, AliasReqId, Result} -> Result
        after 5000 ->
                unalias(AliasReqId),
                %% Flush message queue in case the reply arrived
                %% just before the alias was deactivated...
                receive {reply, AliasReqId, Result} -> Result
                after 0 -> exit(timeout)
                end
        end.

  Note that both the server and the client in this example must be
  executing on at least OTP 24 systems in order for this to work.

  For more information on process aliases see the Process Aliases
  section of the Erlang Reference Manual.
