Using the dcecp Help Facilities

dcecp> help
The general format of all dcecp object operations is as follows:
dcecp> <object> <operation> [argument] [options]

In addition to all of the standard tcl commands, dcecp
supports many commands to administer DCE objects. A dcecp
object or task represents a DCE entity. Type 'man
dcecp_<command>' for more information. All of the following
dcecp objects and tasks require an operation:
account cdscache group organization user
acl cell host principal utc
attrlist cellalias hostdata registry uuid
aud clearinghouse keytab rpcentry
audevents clock link rpcgroup
audfilter directory log rpcprofile
audtrail dts name secval
cdsalias endpoint object server xattrschema

Miscellaneous commands perform specific functions. Type
'man dcecp' for more information. These commands take no
operation:
echo errtext login logout quit resolve shell

To list all dcecp objects: dcecp> help -verbose
To list all operations an object supports: dcecp> <object> help
To list all options for an object operation: dcecp> <object> help <operations>
For verbose information on a dcecp object: dcecp> <object> help -verbose
For the manual page on a dcecp object: dcecp> man <object>
dcecp>

· If you just need to know which operations an object supports, use the command

object operations

which returns a list of the actions you can take on an object. The following example shows how to list the operations available for the principal object:

dcecp> principal operations
catalog create delete modify show operations help
dcecp>

You can save typing by abbreviating this command to something like prin oper.

· Get more detailed help about an object and its operations by using the object help command. The following example returns a one-line description of each operation supported by the principal object.

dcecp> principal help
catalog Returns all names of principals in the registry.
create Create a dce principal.
delete Delete a principal from the registry.
modify Change the information about a principal.
rename Rename the specified principal.
show Returns the attributea of a principal.
help Print summary of command-line options.
operations Return valid operations for command.
dcecp>

· Get information about available command options by adding an operation argument to the object help command. The following example returns a one-line description of each option supported by the principal create operation.

dcecp> principal help create
-alias Indicates principal named is an alias of the uid.
-attribute Specify principal attributes in an attribute list format.
-fullname Fullname of the principal.
-quota How many registry objects can the principal create.
-uid User Identifier of the new principal.
-uuid Orphaned UUID to be adopted by the principal.
dcecp>

· Get help about an object itself by using an object help -verbose command. The following example returns a description of the principal object along with information about how to use the object:

dcecp> principal help -verbose
This object allows manipulation of principal information stored in the DCE
registry. The argument is a list of either relative or fully qualified principal names. Specify fixed attributes using attribute
options or an attribute list. Specify any extended attributes using an attribute list. Principal operations connect to a
registry that can service the request. Specify a particular
registry by setting the _s(sec) convenience variable to be a
cell-relative or global replica name, or the binding of the
host where the replica exists. The completed operation sets
the _b(sec) convenience variable to the name of the registry
contacted.

· Finally, some POSIX style systems will have reference pages for dcecp objects as well as a Tcl summary reference page. Each dcecp object has its own reference page which describes the object and the operations available to it. The general syntax for viewing a dcecp object reference page is:

man object_name

The following example shows how to invoke the reference page for the principal object. Note that you can use the man command from within dcecp.

dcecp> man principal
.
. [output omitted]
.
dcecp>

The Tcl reference page summarizes the Tcl built-in commands. You can view the Tcl summary reference page on a UNIX style system by entering:

dcecp> man Tcl
.
. [output omitted]
.
dcecp>