XFN Composite Names

An XFN composite name is 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. Appendix A, XFN Composite Names, and Appendix B, XFN Composite Names Syntax, supply more detail about composite names.

Components are slash-separated (/) and ordered from left to right, according to XFN composite name syntax. For example, the composite name

sales.Wiz.COM/usr/local/bin

has two components, a DNS name (sales.Wiz.COM) and a UNIX path name (usr/local/bin).

Figure 1-7 shows an example of a federated naming system with composite names. The position of the name within a context has no inherent significance in this illustration.