Evaluation of attributed names

Abstract

In this paper a new and original name evaluation method of attributed names is proposed and elaborated on. This method allows an attributed name to be presented in a non-hierarchical fashion and to be evaluated using a hierarchical approach. A three-level name model that supports attributed names for objects in a distributed system and the structure of naming contexts which bind attributed names onto objects are presented. The naming contexts are represented intuitively with a context-graph. To be able to meet the requirements generated from the name service semantics, a name evaluation model suitable for different name services, i.e. the conventional service, the selection service and the enquiry service has been developed. This model allows the name evaluation to be implemented efficiently. Moreover, to achieve the effectiveness and the efficiency in the implementation of the name evaluation, we have developed a set of algorithms, each of which is for a particular name service.