Distributed Name Service (DNS) Management Programming Manual

Glossary
Glossary–10 46958 Tandem Computers Incorporated
Local system. The node in an EXPAND network where a specific resource is located.
The local system is the system where the name manager processing the command is
running.
Macro. A sequence of TACL commands and built-in functions that can contain dummy
arguments, thus providing a means for simple argument substitution. No validity
checking of the arguments is performed. When the macro name is given to TACL,
TACL substitutes the expansion of the command sequence for the name, replacing any
dummy arguments with parameter values supplied in the invocation. Compare with
Routine.
Management application. A program or set of programs that issues commands to
subsystems, retrieves event messages, or does both things, to assist in managing a
computer system or a network of systems. A management application is a requester
with respect to the subsystems to which it sends commands; the subsystems are
servers with respect to the management application.
Management interface. An interactive or programmatic interface through which one can
manage a subsystem and its objects. In some subsystems, a specific process is
dedicated to the management interface; in other subsystems, the process that provides
the management interface also performs other functions.
Management process. The process through which an application issues commands to a
subsystem. A management process can be part of a subsystem, or it can be associated
with more than one subsystem; in the latter case, the management process is logically
part of each of the subsystems. The Subsystem Control Point (SCP) and PATHMON
are examples of management processes.
Manager process. A particular process within a subsystem that is the target of a
command, the reporter of an error, or the manager of the subject of an event message.
Message. A block of information, usually in the form of a structure, that is sent from
one process to another. See also SPI message and Structure
Message buffer. A sequence of memory locations used for the contents of an
interprocess message. See also SPI buffer.
Message code. The contents of the first word of an interprocess message. A message
code of -28 identifies the message as an SPI message.
Name. An identifier by which an object in a network is recognized. DNS defines the
following kinds of names: subsystem-object, subsystem-object type, alias, alias type,
composite, composite type, group, domain, subsystem, and subsystem-manager
names.
Name exporter. A multithreaded DNS process that exports names to multiple nodes by
replicating information about the names on those nodes. This process, named $ZDNX
by default, is responsible for all interaction with DNS on other nodes in the network.
It is not a NonStop process pair.
Name management. That aspect of system or network management that pertains to the
naming of objects, the organization of names on a node, the distribution of names
among nodes, and other issues related to names and naming.