OSF DCE Application Development Guide--Core Components

OSF DCE Application Development Guide—Core Components
When implementing the resource model or when used to distinguish server instances, a
server entry contains an object attribute as well as a binding attribute. On finding a
server entry whose binding attribute contains compatible binding information, an NSI
search operation also looks in the entry for an object attribute. For groups whose
membership is selected according to a shared object or set of objects, it may be useful to
export those objects to the group. In this case, the directory service entry of the group
contains both group and object attributes. For reading the object UUIDs in the NSI
object attribute in any directory service entry, NSI provides a set of object inquiry
operations, called using the rpc_ns_entry_object_inq_{begin,next,done}()routines.
Using separate entries facilitates administration of the namespace; for example, by
enabling entry names to specifically describe their contents. Keeping server entries,
profiles, and groups separate allows clear references to each of them.
Note: In addition to any NSI attributes, a directory service entry contains other
kinds of directory service attributes. Every entry in a namespace contains
standard attributes created by the directory service. NSI operations rely on
some standard attributes to identify and use an entry.
14.3.1.2 Structure of Entry Names
Each entry in a namespace is identified by a unique global name comprising a cell name
and a cell-relative name.
A cell is a group of users, systems, and resources that share common DCE services. A
cell configuration includes at least one cell directory server and one security server. A
cell’s size can range from one system to thousands of systems. A host is assigned to its
cell by a DCE configuration file. For information on cells, see the OSF DCE
Administration Guide.
The following is an example of a global name:
/.../C=US/O=uw/OU=MadCity/LandS/anthro/Stats_host_2
The parts of a global name are as follows:
• Cell name (using X.500 name syntax):
/.../C=US/O=uw/OU=MadCity
The symbol /... begins a cell name. The letters before the = (equal signs) are
abbreviations for Country (C), Organization (O), and Organization Unit (OU). For
entries in the local cell, the cell name can be represented by a /.: prefix, in place of
the actual cell name; for example:
/.:/LandS/anthro/Stats_host_2
The / (slash) to the right of the cell name represents the root of the cell directory (the
cell root).
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