OSF DCE Application Development Guide--Core Components

RPC and Other DCE Components

— A group corresponding to the requested RPC interface

— A proﬁle

• Priority value

The priority value (0 is the highest priority; 7 is the lowest priority) is designated by

the creator of a proﬁle element to help determine the order for using the element

NSI search operations to select among like-priority elements at random.

• Annotation string

The annotation string enables you to identify the purpose of the proﬁle element.

The annotation can be any textual information; for example, an interface name

associated with the interface identiﬁer or a description of a service or resource

associated with a group.

Unlike the interface identiﬁer ﬁeld, the annotation string is not a search key.

Optionally, a proﬁle can contain one default proﬁle element. A default proﬁle element

is the element that an NSI search operation uses when a search using the other elements

of a proﬁle ﬁnds no compatible binding information; for example, when the current

proﬁle lacks any element corresponding to the requested interface. A default proﬁle

element contains the nil interface identiﬁer, a priority of 0, the entry name of a default

proﬁle, and an optional annotation.

A default proﬁle is a backup proﬁle, referred to by a default proﬁle element in another

proﬁle. A proﬁle designated as a default proﬁle should be a comprehensive proﬁle

maintained by an administrator for a major set of users, such as the members of an

organization or the owners of computer accounts on a local area network (LAN).

A default proﬁle must not create circular dependencies between proﬁles; for example,

when a public proﬁle refers to an application’s proﬁle, the application’s proﬁle must not

specify that public proﬁle as a default proﬁle.

Figure 14-11 shows an example of the kinds of elements a proﬁle can contain and how

those elements correspond to database entries.

Figure 14-11. Possible Mappings of a Proﬁle

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