A ds_read( ) function call can take a public object as an input parameter. A public object is generated by an application program and contains the information required to access a target directory object. This information includes the AVAs and RDNs that make up a distinguished name of an entry in the directory.
A public object is created by using OM classes and OM attributes. These OM classes and OM attributes model the target object entry in the directory and provide other information required by the directory service to access the directory. In this case, the target object entry in the directory is the entry for Peter Piper.
XOM Programming describes how to create the required public objects for the ds_read( ) function call by using macros and data structures defined in the XDS and XOM API header files.
The purpose of building the public objects for AVAs and RDNs is to provide the public objects that represent a distinguished name. The distinguished name public object is stored in the array of descriptors called name and provided as an input parameter to the ds_read( ) function call.