fns_initial_context(5)
NAME
fns_initial_context - overview of the FNS Initial Context
DESCRIPTION
Every FNS name is interpreted relative to some context, and
every FNS naming operation is performed on a context object.
The FNS programming interface (XFN) provides a function that
allows the client to obtain an Initial Context object. The
Initial Context provides the initial pathway to other FNS
contexts. FNS defines a set of bindings that the client can
expect to find in this context,
FNS assumes that for every process:
1. There is a user associated with the process when
fn_ctx_handle_from_initial() is invoked. This association
is based on the effective uid of the process. In the fol-
lowing discussion this user is denoted by U. The associ-
ation of user to process may change during the life of a
process but does not affect the context handle originally
returned by fn_ctx_handle_from_initial().
2. The process is running on a host when
fn_ctx_handle_from_initial() is invoked. In the following
discussion this host is denoted by H.
The following atomic names can appear in the Initial Con-
text:
... thishost thisorgunit
thisens myself myorgunit
myens orgunit site
user host
Except for ..., these names with an added underscore ('_')
prefix are also in the Initial Context and have the same
binding as their counterpart (for example, thishost and
_thishost have the same binding). In addition, org has the
same binding as orgunit, and thisuser has the same binding
as myself. The bindings for these names are summarized in
the following table.
Some of these names may not necessarily appear in all Ini-
tial Contexts. For example, a process owned by the super-
user of a machine does not have any of the user-related
bindings. Or, for another example, an installation that has
not set up a site namespace will not have the site-related
bindings.
... global context for resolving DNS or X.500 names.
Synonym: /...
thishost
H's host context. Synonym: _thishost
thisens
the enterprise root of H. Synonym: _thisens
thisorgunit
H's distinguished organizational unit context. In
Solaris, this is H's NIS+ home domain. Synonym:
_thisorgunit
myself
U's user context. Synonyms: _myself, thisuser
myens the enterprise root of U. Synonym: _myens
myorgunit
U's distinguished organizational unit context. In
Solaris, this is U's NIS+ home domain. Synonym:
_myorgunit
user the context in which users in the same organizational
unit as H are named. Synonym: _user
host the context in which hosts in the same organizational
unit as H are named. Synonym: _host
org the root context of the organizational unit namespace
in H's enterprise. In Solaris, this corresponds to
the NIS+ root domain. Synonyms: orgunit, _orgunit
site the root context of the site namespace in H's enter-
prise, if the site namespace has been configured.
Synonym: _site
EXAMPLES
Example 1: Names beginning with the enterprise root
The types of objects that may be named relative to the
enterprise root are user, host, service, organizational
unit, file, and site. Here are some examples of names that
begin with the enterprise root:
thisens/orgunit/multimedia.servers.engineering
names an organizational unit
multimedia.servers.engineering in H's enterprise.
thisens/site/northwing.floor3.admin
names the north wing site, on the third floor of the
administrations building in H's enterprise.
myens/user/hdiffie
names the user hdiffie in U's enterprise.
myens/service/teletax
names the teletax service of U's enterprise.
Example 2: Names beginning with organizational unit names
The types of objects that may be named relative to an organ-
izational unit name are: user, host, service, file, and
site. Here are some examples of names that begin with
organizational unit names (either explicitly via org, or
implicitly via thisorgunit or myorgunit), and name objects
relative to organizational unit names when resolved in the
Initial Context:
org/accounts_payable.finance/site/videoconference.northwing
names a conference room videoconference located in
the north wing of the site associated with the organ-
izational unit accounts_payable.finance.
org/finance/user/mjones
names a user mjones in the organizational unit
finance.
org/finance/host/inmail
names a machine inmail belonging to the organiza-
tional unit finance.
org/accounts_payable.finance/fs/pub/blue-and-whites/FY92-124
names a file pub/blue-and-whites/FY92-124 belonging
to the organizational unit accounts_payable.finance.
org/accounts_payable.finance/service/calendar
names the calendar service of the organizational unit
accounts_payable.finance. This might manage the
meeting schedules of the organizational unit.
thisorgunit/user/cmead
names the user cmead in H's organizational unit.
myorgunit/fs/pub/project_plans/widget.ps
names the file pub/project_plans/widget.ps exported
by U's organizational unit's file system.
Example 3: Names beginning with site names
The types of objects that may be named relative to a site
name are users, hosts, services, and files. Here are some
examples of names that begin with site names via site, and
name objects relative to sites when resolved in the Initial
Context:
site/b5.mtv/service/printer/speedy
names a printer speedy in the b5.mtv site.
site/admin/fs/usr/dist
names a file directory usr/dist available in the site
admin.
Example 4: Names beginning with user names
The types of objects that may be named relative to a user
name are services and files. Here are some examples of names
that begin with user names (explicitly via user or impli-
citly via thisuser), and name objects relative to users when
resolved in the Initial Context:
user/jsmith/service/calendar
names the
calendar service of the user jsmith.
user/jsmith/fs/bin/games/riddles
names the file bin/games/riddles of the user jsmith.
thisuser/service/printer
names the printer service of U.
Example 5: Names beginning with host names
The types of objects that may be named relative to a host
name are services and files. Here are some examples of names
that begin with host names (explicitly via host or impli-
citly via thishost), and name objects relative to hosts when
resolved in the Initial Context:
host/mailhop/service/mailbox
names the
mailbox service associated with the machine mailhop.
host/mailhop/fs/pub/saf/archives.91
names the directory pub/saf/archives.91 found under
the root directory of the machine mailhop.
thishost/service/printer
names the printer service of H.
SEE ALSO
nis+(1), geteuid(2), fn_ctx_handle_from_initial(3XFN),
xfn(3XFN), fns(5), fns_policies(5)
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