JNDI to CORBA name mapping considerations

WebSphere Application Server name servers are an implementation of the CORBA CosNaming interface. The product provides a JNDI implementation which we can use to access CosNaming name servers through the JNDI interface. Issues can exist when mapping JNDI name strings to and from CORBA names.

Each component in a CORBA name consists of an id and kind field, but a JNDI name component consists of no such fields. Each component in a JNDI name is atomic. Typical JNDI clients do not need to make a distinction between the id and kind fields of a name component, or know how JNDI name strings map to CORBA names. JNDI clients of this sort can use the JNDI syntax described later in this section. When a name is parsed according to JNDI syntax, each name component is mapped to the id field of the corresponding CORBA name component. The kind field always has an empty value. This basic syntax is the least obtrusive to the JNDI client in that it has the fewest special characters. However, we cannot represent with this syntax a CORBA name with a non-empty kind field. This restriction can prevent EJB applications from interoperating with CORBA applications.

Some clients, however must interoperate with CORBA applications which use CORBA names with non-empty kind fields. These JNDI clients must make a distinction between id and kind so that JNDI names are correctly mapped to CORBA names, particularly when the CORBA names contain components with non-empty kind fields. Such JNDI clients can use the INS name syntax. With its additional special character, we can use INS to represent any CORBA name. Use of this syntax is not recommended unless it is necessary, because this syntax is more restrictive from the JNDI client's perspective in that the JNDI client must be aware that name components with multiple unescaped dots are syntactically invalid. INS name syntax is part of the OMG CosNaming Interoperable Naming Specification.

Developing applications that use JNDI

Naming and directories: Resources for learning