Global Names
All entries in the Directory Service have a global name that is universally meaningful and usable from anywhere in the DCE naming environment. The prefix /... indicates that a name is global. A global name can refer to an object within a cell (named in CDS) or an object outside of a cell (named in GDS).
The following example shows the global name for an entry created in GDS. The name represents user Ellie Bloggs, who works in the administrative organization unit of the Widget organization, a British corporation.
/.../C=GB/O=Widget/OU=Admin/CN=Ellie Bloggs
The GDS name syntax consists of a global prefix /... and a set of elements, called Relative Distinguished Names (RDNs). Each RDN consists of one or more pairs of parts separated by an = (equal sign) character. The items that are separated by an equal sign are multiple AVAs (Attribute Value Assertions). See the OSF DCE GDS Administration Guide and Reference for more information about AVAs. The first part of a pair is an abbreviation that indicates a type of information. Some common abbreviations are Country (C), Organization (O), Organization Unit (OU), and Common Name (CN). The second part of the pair is a value. (See GDS Names for more information on GDS names.)
The following example shows a global name for a price database server named in CDS. The server is used by the Portland sales branch of XYZ Company, an organization in the United States.
As the example illustrates, global names for entries that are created in CDS look slightly different from pure GDS-style names. The first portion of the name, /.../C=US/O=XYZ/OU=Portland, is a global cell name that exists in GDS. The remaining portion of the name, /subsys/PriceMax/price_server1, is a CDS name.
The cell name exists because cells must have names to be accessible in the global naming environment. The GDA looks up the cell name in the process of helping CDS in one cell find a name in another cell. Cell names are established during initial configuration of the DCE components. Before configuring a cell that will participate in standard intercell communication (that is, via the DNS or GDS global directory services), the DCE administrator must obtain a unique cell name from either of the global naming environments, depending on whether the cell needs to be accessed through GDS or DNS.
The next example shows the global name of a host at ABC Corporation. The global name of the company's cell, /.../abc.com, exists in DNS.
