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Valid Characters and Naming Rules for CDS

The following subtopics discuss the valid character sets for DCE Directory Service names as used by CDS interfaces. They also explain some characters that have special meaning and describe some restrictions and rules regarding case matching, syntax, and size limits.

The use of names in DCE often involves more than one directory service. For example, CDS interacts with either GDS or DNS to find names outside the local cell.

The following figure details the valid characters in CDS names, and the valid characters in GDS and DNS names as used by CDS interfaces.

Note: Because CDS, GDS, and DNS all have their own valid character sets and syntax rules, the best way to avoid problems is to keep names short and simple, consisting of a minimal set of characters common to all three services. The recommended set is the letters A to Z, a to z, and the digits 0 to 9. In addition to making directory service interoperations easier, use of this subset decreases the probability that users in a heterogeneous hardware and software environment will encounter problems creating and using names.

Although spaces are valid in both CDS and GDS names, a CDS simple name containing a space must be enclosed in " " (double quotes) when you enter it through the CDS control program. Additional interface-specific rules are documented in the modules where they apply.


Valid Characters in CDS, GDS, and DNS Names

More:

Metacharacters

Additional Rules

Maximum Name Sizes