Binding a Composite Name to a Reference

fnbind allows you to bind a composite name to a reference.

There are two uses of this command.

• The first usage allows the user to bind the reference of an existing name to a new name. (See below.)

• The second usage allows the user to bind a reference constructed using arguments in the command line to a name. (See "Constructing a Reference on the Command Line".)

Binding an Existing Name to a New Name

The syntax of fnbind for binding existing names to new names is:

fnbind [-s][-v][-L] oldname newname

Table 25-16 fnbind Command Options (Binding Names)

For example, to bind the name user/julio/service/printer to the reference of myorgunit/service/printer you would enter:

# fnbind myorgunit/service/printer user/julio/service/printer

If the given newname is already bound, fnbind -s must be used or the operation will fail. In the above example, if user/julio/service/printer is already bound, the -s option must be used to overwrite the existing binding with that of myorgunit/service/printer as shown below:

# fnbind -s myorgunit/service/printer user/julio/service/printer

The -v option prints out the reference used for the binding.

# fnbind -v myorgunit/service/printer user/julio/service/printer
Reference type: onc_printers
Address type: onc_fn_printer_nisplus

The following command constructs an XFN link out of user/jjones and binds it to the name user/James.Jones:

# fnbind -L user/jjones user/James.Jones

Similarly, to create a link from user/julio/service/printer to myorgunit/service/printer you would enter:

# fnbind -sL myorgunit/service/printer user/julio/service/printer

Constructing a Reference on the Command Line

The syntax of fnbind for building a reference on the command line is:

fnbind -r [-s] [-v] newname [-O | -U] reftype {[-O | -U] | addresstype 
[-c|-x] addresscontents}+

Table 25-17 fnbind Command Options (Reference Construction)

For example, to bind the name thisorgunit/service/calendar to the address contents of staff@cygnus with a reference type of onc_calendar and and an address type onc_cal_str you would enter:

# fnbind -r thisorgunit/service/calendar onc_calendar 
onc_cal_str staff@cygnus

By default, the address contents supplied in the command line is XDR-encoded before being stored in the reference. If the -c option is given, the address contents are stored in normal, readable characters, not as an XDR-encoded string. If the -x option is given, the address contents supplied in the command line are interpreted as a hexadecimal string and stored (and not XDR-encoded).

By default, the reference and address types of the reference to be constructed uses the FN_ID_STRING identifier format. If the -O option is given, the identifier format is FN_ID_ISO_OID_STRING, an ASN.1 dot-separated integer list string. If the -U option is given, the identifier format is FN_ID_DCE_UUID, a DCE UUID in string form.

Note - For more information on ASN.1, see ISO 8824: 1990, Information Technology -- Open Systems Interconnection -- Specification of Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1). For more information on DCE UUID see X/Open Preliminary Specification, October 1993, X/Open DCE: Remote Procedure Call (ISBN: 1-872630-95-2).

For example, to bind to the name thisorgunit/service/nx a reference with a hexadecimal string as the address contents and OIDs as reference and address types, you would enter:

# fnbind -r thisorgunit/service/nx -O 1.2.99.6.2.1 
-O 1.2.99.6.2.3 -x ef12eab67290

Removing a Composite Name

fnunbind removes the given composite name from the namespace. Note that this does not remove the object associated with the name; it only unbinds the name from the object.

For example, to remove the binding associated with the name user/jjones/service/printer/color, you would enter:

# fnunbind user/jjones/service/printer/color

Renaming an Existing Binding

The fnrename command renames an existing binding.

For example, to rename the binding of clndr to calendar, in the context named by user/jjones/service/ you would enter:

# fnunbind user/jjones/service/printer/color

Destroying a Context

fndestroy removes the given composite name from the namespace and destroys the context named by the composite name.

For example, to unbind the name user/jones/ from the namespace and destroys the context named by user/jjones/ you would enter:

# fndestroy user/jjones/

If the composite name identifies a context to be removed, the command fails if the context contains subcontexts.

Administering FNS: Attributes Overview

Attributes can be applied to named objects. Attributes are optional. A named object can have no attributes, one attribute, or multiple attributes.

Each attribute has a unique attribute identifier, an attribute syntax, and a set of zero or more distinct attribute values.

XFN defines the base attribute interface for examining and modifying the values of attributes associated with existing named objects. These objects can be contexts or any other type of object. Associated with a context are syntax attributes that describe how the context parses compound names.

The extended attribute interface contains operations that search for specific attributes and that create objects and their associated attributes.

Examining Attributes

Search for attributes with the fnsearch command.

The syntax of the fnsearch command is

fnsearch [-ALlv] [-n max] [-s scope] name [-a ident]... [-O|-U] filter_expr [filter_arg]

Table 25-18 fnsearch Command Options