Contents

 

 

URLs

A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a string that specifies the location of a resource on the Web. The specification of a URL's syntax and semantics are described in RFC 1738. In summary, the syntax is:

scheme : scheme-specific-parts

where scheme identifies the URL's type. For example, the following is a URL for the ldap scheme:

ldap://localhost:389/cn=Ted Geisel, ou=People, o=JNDIDocs

URL strings are used in several places in the JNDI. Their usage can be categorized into two groups: as names and as addresses. They are used as names as follows:

• As names to the initial context
• As names returned by naming enumerations

They are used as address as follows:

• As references for federation
• As data for configuration

This lesson describes these uses of URL strings in the JNDI. See the Referrals lesson for descriptions and examples of how URL strings are used as LDAP referrals.