Distributed Name Service (DNS) Management Operations Manual

Introduction to Defining DNS Names
Building and Modifying the DNS Database
4–6 31258 Tandem Computers Incorporated
The ASSUME Command: a
Useful Aid
DNSCOM provides a keystroke saving option—the ASSUME command. When you
use the ASSUME command, DNS remembers the object name you specified in a
command line until you issue another ASSUME command.
If you use the ASSUME command when creating a DNS name definition, you can set
all the name attributes with the SET command until you are ready to add the
completed definition to the DNSCOM manager (then it is added to the DNS database).
In the example below, you would have to include ALIASTYPE in each command line
if you did not first use the ASSUME command. Using the ASSUME command is not
required, but it saves time and reduces the probability of typing errors. DNS
remembers that ALIASTYPE is the object type, so ALIASTYPE is not included the
command lines after ASSUME ALIASTYPE.
ASSUME ALIASTYPE
SET OWNER Joyco
SET TYPENUM 1
SET SSTYPES LOCATION
SET DOMAIN NETWORK
ADD PHONE-NUMBER
Other examples of using the ASSUME command are included in “Initializing and
Starting DNS Configurations” in Section 3.
Two Methods of Adding a
Name
As displayed in the previous example of using the ASSUME command, you can use
the SET command to first define an object name’s attributes, then add the name
definition with a short ADD command line.
The advantage to using SET commands is that you can define one attribute at a time
and can correct your mistakes easily. While building a DNS definition with SET
commands, a subsequent SET command for the same attribute overrides the previous
one. Attributes set with the SET command are not added to the database until you use
the ADD command. Also, you can use the SHOW command to view your progress of
attribute settings before actually adding the name definition.
You can also add a name to the database with one ADD command line. With this
method, no SET commands are used and all attributes of the object name are included
in one command line. The disadvantage of using this method is having to type very
long command lines. In addition, if you incorrectly specify one attribute of the object
name you’re defining, you must use the ALTER command to change the contents of
the definition added to the database.