VMS Help DCE_RPC, rpccp, Name Service Interface, Structure of Entry Names  *Conan The Librarian (sorry for the slow response - running on an old VAX)

   Each entry in a name service database is identified by a unique
   global name made up of a cell name and a cell-relative name.

   A cell is a group of users, systems, and resources that share common
   DCE services.  A cell configuration includes at least one cell
   directory server, one security server, and one time server.  A cell's
   size can range from one system to thousands of systems.  For
   information on cells, see the CDS portion of this book.

   The following is an example of a global name:

        /.../C=US/O=uw/OU=MadCity/LandS/anthro/Stats_host_2

   The parts of a global name are as follows:

   Cell name (using X.500 name syntax)

             For example:

                  /.../C=US/O=uw/OU=MadCity

             The symbol /... begins a cell name.  The letters before the
             equal signs (=) are abbreviations for country (C),
             organization (O), and organization unit (OU).

             For entries in the local cell, the cell name can be
             represented by a /.: prefix, in place of the actual cell
             name; for example,

                  /.:/LandS/anthro/Stats_host_2

             For NSI operations on entries in the local cell you can omit
             the cell name.

   Cell-relative name
             Each name service entry requires a cell-relative name,
             which contains a directory pathname and a leaf name.

             directory pathname
                       Follows the cell name and indicates the
                       hierarchical relationship of the entry to the
                       cell root.  The directory pathname is the middle
                       portion of the global name.  The cell name is to
                       the left of the directory pathname, and the leaf
                       name is to the right, as follows:

                       cell-name + directory-pathname + leaf-name

                       The directory pathname contains the names of any
                       subdirectories in the path; each subdirectory
                       name begins with a slash (/), as follows:

                       /sub-dir-a-name/sub-dir-b-name/sub-dir-c-name

                       Directory paths are created by name service
                       administrators. If an appropriate directory path
                       does not exist, ask your name service
                       administrator to extend an existing path or
                       create a new path.  In a directory path, the
                       name of a subdirectory should reflect its
                       relationship to its parent directory (the
                       directory that contains the subdirectory).

             leaf name Identifies the specific entry.  The leaf name is
                       the right-hand part of global name beginning with
                       the rightmost slash.

   In the following example,  /.../C=US/O=uw/OU=MadCity is the cell name,
   /LandS/anthro is the directory pathname, and /Cal_host_4 is the leaf
   name.

        /.../C=US/O=uw/OU=MadCity/LandS/anthro/Cal_host_4,

   If a name service entry is located at the cell root, the leaf name
   directly follows the cell name; for example, /.:/cell-profile.

   Note that when the NSI is used with CDS, the cell-relative name is a
   CDS name.