The dced API Naming Conventions
All of the dced API routine names begin with the dced_ prefix. This API contains some specialized routines that operate on services represented by the following keywords in the routine names:
hostdata
The host data management service stores host-specific data such as the hostname, the host's cell name, and other data, and it provides access to these data
items.
server
The server control service configures, starts, and stops servers, among other things. Applications must distinguish two general states of server control: server
configuration (srvrconf) and server execution (srvrexec).
secval
The security validation service maintains a host's principal identity and ensures applications that the DCE Security daemon is genuine.
keytab
The key table management service remotely manages key tables.
The dced also provides the endpoint mapper service which has its own API, described with the RPC API. These routines begin with rpc_ep and rpc_mgmt_ep.
Since some of the dced daemon's services require the same operations (but on different data types), the dced API also contains generic routines that may operate on more than one of the above services. For example, you use the routine dced_object_read( ) to read a data item (object) from the hostdata, srvrconf, srvrexec, or keytab services.