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Federated Naming Service Programming Guide

Preface

The Federated Naming Service (FNS) is new to the SolarisTM product family. FNS is a set of application programming interfaces and policies that allow applications to use a common set of names and policies over different name services.

FNS is not a replacement for NIS+, the network name service included in the Solaris software environment. Rather, FNS is implemented on top of NIS+ and allows you to use a set of common names with desktop applications. Sun's implementation of FNS conforms to the X/OpenTM federated naming (XFN) specification.

Who Should Use This Book

The primary audience of Federated Naming Service Guide is software developers who write distributed applications. Use of this guide assumes basic competence in programming, a working familiarity with the C programming language, and a working familiarity with the UNIX® operating system. Developers should read all four parts of this manual.

System and network administrators should look at Solaris Naming Setup and Configuration Guide for FNS setup and configuration information. Information on FNS administratiuon is in Solaris Naming Administration Guide. This manual does not cover NIS+ or the Domain Name System (DNS) except as they relate to FNS.

How This Book Is Organized

Chapter 1, Introduction to the Federated Naming Service (FNS)is a high-level overview of FNS and the problems it addresses.

Chapter 2, Interfaces for Writing XFN Applicationsdescribes the client programming interfaces for X/Open Federated Naming (XFN).

Chapter 3, XFN Programming Examplespresents three self-contained executable programs: a namespace browser, a printer client and server, and a tool to populate attributes of users.

Appendixes

Appendix A, XFN Composite Namesdescribes the XFN composite name string syntax and the resolution techniques for composite names.

Appendix B, XFN Composite Names Syntaxgives supplemental information about composite name syntax.

Related Books

With the exception of the XFN specification, the following books do not specifically cover FNS but they provide a good background on how name services work in client-server computing:

You may also want to reference the following AnswerBook® on-line documentation:

Ordering Sun Documents

Fatbrain.com, an Internet professional bookstore, stocks select product documentation from Sun Microsystems, Inc.

For a list of documents and how to order them, visit the Sun Documentation Center on Fatbrain.com at http://www1.fatbrain.com/documentation/sun.

Accessing Sun Documentation Online

The docs.sun.comSM Web site enables you to access Sun technical documentation online. You can browse the docs.sun.com archive or search for a specific book title or subject. The URL is http://docs.sun.com.

What Typographic Conventions Mean

The following table describes the typographic changes used in this book.

Table P-1 Typographic Conventions

Typeface or Symbol 

Meaning 

Example 

AaBbCc123

 The names of commands, files, and directories; on-screen computer output

Edit your .login file.

Use ls -a to list all files.

machine_name% you have mail.

AaBbCc123

 What you type, contrasted with on-screen computer output

machine_name% su

Password:

AaBbCc123

 Command-line placeholder: replace with a real name or value

To delete a file, type rm filename.

AaBbCc123

Book titles, new words, or terms, or words to be emphasized. 

Read Chapter 6 in User's Guide.

These are called class options.

You must be root to do this.

Shell Prompts in Command Examples

The following table shows the default system prompt and superuser prompt for the C shell, Bourne shell, and Korn shell.

Table P-2 Shell Prompts

Shell 

Prompt 
 C shell promptmachine_name%
 C shell superuser promptmachine_name#
 Bourne shell and Korn shell prompt$
 Bourne shell and Korn shell superuser prompt#