Should I qualify my filenames?

No. The ToolTalk service does not allow explicit hostname qualification of pathnames. If you use a filename that contains a colon (:) symbol, the ToolTalk service searches for a filename that contains the colon symbol. The tt_message_file and tt_default_file calls return the realpath of the specified file as it appears on the machine on which you invoked the call. The ToolTalk service ensures that

1. If two clients file-scope to the same file on different machines, they can talk to each other without regard to how the two files are actually mounted on each machine.

2. A locally-valid, canonical pathname is returned back to you.