Deploying Scopes

Use the net.slp.useScopes property to create scopes. For example, in the /etc/inet/slp.conf file on a host, add a new scope, called newscope, as shown:

net.slp.useScopes=newscope

To help you understand the scope concept, imagine that your organization has an alcove of networked office machines, such as printers and fax machines, and that they reside at the end of the south hall on the second floor of Building 6. These office machines might be provided for all users on the second floor, or their use might be restricted to members of a certain department. Scopes provide a way to provision access to the service advertisements for these machines.

If the office machines are dedicated to the marketing department, then the marketing department hosts and the printers in proximity to that cluster can be configured with a scope named mktg. Other printers, belonging to other departments, can be configured with different scope names.

In another scenario, the departments might be dispersed. For instance, the mechanical engineering and the CAD/CAM departments might be split between floors 1 and 2. However, you can provide the floor 2 machines for the hosts on both floors by assigning them to the same scope. You can deploy scopes in any manner that operates well with your network and users.

UAs having a particular scope are not prevented from actually using services advertised in other scopes. Configuring scopes controls only which service advertisements a UA sees. It is up to the service itself to enforce any access control restrictions.