OSF DCE Application Development Guide--Core Components

DCE Host Services
2.5 Managing Hostdata on a Remote Host
Administrators typically use the dcecp hostdata object to remotely manage the data of
the hostdata service. However, application developers can use the dced API for their
own management applications or if dcecp does not handle a task in the desired way, such
as for a browser of hostdata that uses a graphical user interface.
2.5.1 Kinds of Hostdata Stored
Each hostdata item is stored in a file, and dced has a UUID associated with each. The
standard data items include the following well-known names:
cell_name The name of the cell to which your host belongs is stored.
cell_aliases When the cell name changes, the old names are designated as
cell aliases.
dce_cf.db The DCE configuration data file is stored.
host_name The host name is stored.
pe_site The location of the security server is stored.
post_processors The post_processors file contains UUID-program pairs for
which the UUIDs represent other hostdata items. If changes
occur to an associated hostdata item, the system runs the
program.
svc_routing The default routing file for serviceability messages is stored.
Depending on your DCE provider, additional items may exist. In addition to the well-
known hostdata items, applications can also add their own. The well-known hostdata
items have well-known UUIDs defined in the file /usr/include/dce/dced_data.h, but you
can use the dced_inq_uuid( ) routine to obtain any UUID associated with any name
known to dced.
2.5.2 AddingNew Hostdata
In addition to modifying existing hostdata, you can add your own data by using the
hostdata API. For example, suppose you want to add a printer to a host and make the
configuration file part of that host’s dced data. The following example shows how to do
this:
dced_binding_handle_t dced_bh;
error_status_t status;
dced_entry_t entry;
dced_attr_list_t data;
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