Integration Matrix

The following table shows which DCE components are used by each of the other DCE components. The components listed in the leftmost column are the technology consumers. The components listed in the top row are the technology providers. For example, in the box (row RPC, column Threads), the X indicates that RPC makes use of the Threads technology. The abbreviation NA (for Not Applicable) in a box shows the intersection of a technology with itself. A blank box indicates that the consuming technology does not use the providing technology. The following sections include discussions of technology integration, including reasons why certain technologies do not make use of other technologies.

DCE Component Integration

Threads RPC CDS DTS Security GDS DFS

Threads NA

RPC X NA X X

CDS X X NA X X X

DTS X X X NA X

Security X X X X NA*

GDS NA

DFS X X X X X NA

Note: The security service is actually a client of itself, because it uses the audit service to log security service events.

The DCE components support distributed applications, and, in accomplishing that task, they also use each other's services, as shown in the matrix. The use of a given DCE component by another DCE component can provide an example for the application programmer.

Note that many of the boxes are filled in, especially those representing the five most basic components (threads, RPC, CDS, DTS, and security). As a result, some pairs of components have mutual dependencies; for example, the security and CDS components. The security service uses information from CDS, while CDS uses the security service to control access to its information. The implications of these mutual dependencies are discussed in Implications of Mutual Dependencies.