To prevent accessing a namespace unnecessarily, previously requested directory service data is sometimes stored on the system where the request originated. A local copy of directory service data is not automatically updated at each request. Automatic updating of the local copy occurs only when it exceeds its expiration age. The expiration age is the amount of time that a local copy of directory service data from an NSI attribute can remain unchanged before a request from an RPC application for the attribute requires updating of the local copy. When an RPC application begins running, the RPC runtime randomly specifies a value between 8 and 12 hours as the default expiration age for that instance of the application. Most applications use only this default expiration age, which is global to the application.
An expiration age is used by an NSI next operation, which reads data from directory service attributes. For a given search or inquire operation, you can override the default expiration age by calling the routine rpc_ns_mgmt_handle_set_exp_age( ) after the operation's begin routine. Note that specifying a low default age will result in increased network updates among the name servers in your cell. This will adversely affect the performance of all network traffic. Therefore, use the default whenever possible. If you must override the default age, specify a number that is high enough to avoid frequent updates of local data.
An NSI next operation usually starts by looking for a local copy of the attribute data being requested by an application. In the absence of a local copy, the NSI next operation creates one with fresh attribute data from the namespace. If a local copy already exists, the operation compares its actual age to the expiration age used by the application. If the actual age exceeds the expiration age, the operation automatically tries to update the local copy with fresh attribute data. If updating is impossible, the old local data remains in place and the NSI next operation fails, returning the rpc_s_name_service_unavailable status code.