Distributed Name Management.

Abstract : The problem being addressed in this research is the design of a naming facility achieving the following goals. First, two functions on names must be supported: accessing a named object, and acting as a place holder for the named object. Second, it must be possible to share those names. Third, communication of the names as well as communcation by use of the names must be possible. Finally, feasibility of implementation is a goal. In this research a name is defined to be an object that can be associated with another object and has an equality operation defined on it. Two functions are defined for a name; it can be used both to provide access to the named object and as a place holder for the named object. The assumed system model is a loosely coupled, distributed system. The research addresses this problem with: (1) a detailed analysis of the naming problem and the nature of names themselves; (2) a proposal for a set of mechanisms that addresses the problem above, including the proposal of two new types of objects and the mechanisms for their use; and (3) two examples of uses of the model. The model consists of private views of shared, local namespaces allowing shared use of names and supporting shared responsibility for management of the namespace. In addition the model provides for the acceptance and deletion of names in stages. Additional keywords: Computer applications. (Author)