Application-level name services are incorporated in applications offering services such as files, mail, and printing. Application-level name services are bound below enterprise-level name services. The enterprise-level name services provide contexts in which contexts of application-level name services can be bound.
An indivisible component of a name as defined by the naming convention.
Each named object is associated with a set of zero or more attributes. Each attribute in the set has a unique attribute identifier, an attribute syntax, and a set of zero or more distinct attribute values.
The association of an atomic name with an object reference. For simplicity, an object reference and the object it refers to are used interchangeably in this guide.
Backus-Naur Form.
A name that spans multiple naming systems. It consists of an ordered list of zero or more components. Each component is a name from the namespace of a single naming system. Composite name resolution is the process of resolving a name that spans multiple naming systems.
A sequence of atomic names composed according to the naming convention of a naming system.
An object whose state is a set of bindings with distinct atomic names. Every context has an associated naming convention. A context provides a lookup (resolution) operation, which returns the reference, and may provide operations such as binding names, unbinding names, and listing bound names.
Domain Name System. A system that provides the naming policy and mechanisms for mapping domain and machine names to addresses on the Internet.
A name service that names objects within an enterprise. The types of objects named are organizational units, sites, users, hosts, and files. Enterprise-level name services are bound below global name services. Global name services provide contexts in which the root contexts of enterprise-level naming systems can be bound.
The root context of an enterprise. A context for naming objects found at the root of the enterprise namespace.
The service offered by a federated naming system.
An aggregation of autonomous naming systems that cooperate to support name resolution of composite names through a standard interface. Each member of a federation has autonomy in its choice of operations other than name resolution.
The set of all possible names generated according to the policies that govern the relationships among member naming systems and their respective namespaces.
A context for binding names used in applications.
A context for naming objects that have global names (currently, DNS and X.500 are the only global naming systems specified by XFN).
A name service that has worldwide scope, such as Internet DNS and X.500. The types of entities named at this global level are typically countries, states, provinces, cities, companies, universities, institutions, and government departments and ministries. Each of these entities can be an enterprise.
A context for naming objects related to a computer.
An unnamed reference that points to a context in another naming system.
Every XFN name is interpreted relative to some context, and every XFN naming operation is performed on a context object. The XFN interface provides a function that allows the client to obtain an initial context object that provides a starting point for resolution of composite names.
A name in one namespace bound to a context in the next naming system.
Every name is generated by a set of syntactic rules called a naming convention.
The set of all names in a naming system.
A special atomic name used to refer to the root of a namespace.
The service offered by a naming system. It is accessed through its interface.
A connected set of contexts of the same type (having the same naming convention) and providing the same set of operations with identical semantics. In the UNIX operating system, for example, the set of directories in a given file system (and the naming operations on directories) constitutes a naming system.
Reference to a context in which composite names from subordinate naming systems are resolved.
An enterprise is organized into organizational units such as centers, laboratories, departments, divisions, and so on. An organizational unit is a subunit of an enterprise.
A context for naming objects related to an organizational unit within an enterprise.
A context in which this context and its siblings are bound.
The thing bound to a name. It contains addresses identifying the communication endpoints of the object.
A context for naming the objects found in the root of the namespace.
A context for naming objects that provide services.
A context for naming objects related to a physical site.
The case where the XFN context treats the XFN component separator as the naming system boundary.
A context bound within another context.
A context for naming objects related to a human user.
The case where the XFN context does not treat the XFN component separator as the naming system boundary.
A special form of reference that has a composite name as an address. Like any other type of reference, an XFN link is bound to an atomic name in a context.
A global-level directory service defined by an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) standard. The X.500 directory service is not supported in a 64-bit application.