Elep

Network Working Group                                            V. Ryan
Request for Comments: 2714                                        R. Lee
Category: Informational                                      S. Seligman
                                                  Sun Microsystems, Inc.
                                                            October 1999

Schema for Representing CORBA Object References in an LDAP Directory

Status of this Memo

This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

Abstract

CORBA [CORBA] is the Common Object Request Broker Architecture
   defined by the Object Management Group. This document defines the
   schema for representing CORBA object references in an LDAP directory
   [LDAPv3].

1. Introduction

This document assumes that the reader has a general understanding of
   CORBA.

Traditionally, LDAP directories have been used to store data. Users
   and programmers think of the directory as a hierarchy of directory
   entries, each containing a set of attributes.  You look up an entry
   from the directory and extract the attribute(s) of interest.  For
   example, you can look up a person's telephone number from the
   directory.  Alternatively, you can search the directory for entries
   with a particular set of attributes.  For example, you can search for
   all persons in the directory with the surname "Smith".

CORBA applications require access to CORBA objects. Traditionally,
   CORBA applications have used the COS Naming service for storage and
   retrieval of CORBA object references. When deployed in environments
   with a directory, CORBA applications should be able to use the
   directory as a repository for CORBA object references. The directory
   provides a centrally administered, and possibly replicated, service
   for use by CORBA applications distributed across the network.

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RFC 2714           Schema for CORBA Object References       October 1999

For example, an application server may use the directory for
   "registering" CORBA objects representing the services that it
   manages, so that a client can later search the directory to locate
   those services as it needs.

The motivation for this document is to define a common way for
   applications to store and retrieve CORBA object references from the
   directory.  Using this common schema, any CORBA application that
   needs to read or store CORBA object references in the directory can
   do so in an interoperable way.

Note that this schema is defined for storing CORBA "object
   references," not CORBA objects in general. There might be other ways
   to store CORBA objects in an LDAP directory but they are not covered
   by this schema.

2. Representation of CORBA Object References

This document defines schema elements to represent a CORBA object
   reference in LDAP directory. Applications in possession of a
   reference to an object can invoke calls on that object.  Such a
   reference is termed an "interoperable object reference," or IOR.
   Access to CORBA objects by using IORs is achieved transparently to
   the application, by means of the General Inter-ORB Protocol.

A CORBA object reference is represented in the directory by the
   object class corbaObjectReference. corbaObjectReference is a subclass
   of the abstract corbaObject object class. corbaObjectReference is an
   auxiliary object class, which means that it needs to be mixed in with
   a structural object class.

The object class corbaContainer is used in a directory entry which
   represents a CORBA object or object reference. It is a structural
   object class, and when representing an object reference, the
   corbaObjectReference object class would also need to be present in
   the entry.  corbaContainer is not required when a subclass of
   corbaObject (such as corbaObjectReference) is mixed in with another
   structural object class.

The definitions for the object classes corbaObject,
   corbaObjectReference, and corbaContainer are presented in Section 4.

The corbaObject class has two optional attributes: corbaRepositoryId
   and description.  corbaRepositoryId is a multivalued attribute that
   is used to store the repository ids of the interfaces implemented by
   a CORBA object.  description is used to store a textual description
   of a CORBA object.

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The corbaObjectReference class has one mandatory attribute: corbaIor.
   corbaIor is used to store the object's stringified IOR.

corbaIor and corbaRepositoryId are defined in Section 3; description
   is defined in [v3Schema].

3. Attribute Type Definitions

The following attribute types are defined in this document:

corbaIor
       corbaRepositoryId

3.1 corbaIor

This attribute stores the string representation of the interoperable
   object reference (IOR) for a CORBA object. An IOR is an opaque handle
   for the object which contains the information necessary to locate the
   object, even if the object is in another ORB.

This attribute's syntax is 'IA5 String' and its case is
   insignificant.

( 1.3.6.1.4.1.42.2.27.4.1.14
    NAME 'corbaIor'
    DESC 'Stringified interoperable object reference of a CORBA object'
    EQUALITY caseIgnoreIA5Match
    SYNTAX 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.115.121.1.26
    SINGLE-VALUE
   )

3.2 corbaRepositoryId

Each CORBA interface has a unique "repository id" (also called "type
   id") that identifies the interface.  A CORBA object has one or more
   repository ids, one for each interface that it implements.

The format of a repository id can be any string, but the OMG
   specifies four standard formats:

a. IDL-style

IDL:Prefix/ModuleName/InterfaceName:VersionNumber

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For example, the repository id for the "NamingContext" in OMG's COS
   Naming module is:  "IDL:omg.org/CosNaming/NamingContext:1.0".

b. RMI-style

RMI:ClassName:HashCode[:SUID]

This format is used by RMI-IIOP remote objects [RMI-IIOP].
   "ClassName" is the fully qualified name of the class (for example,
   "java.lang.String"). "HashCode" is the object's hash code (that is,
   that obtained by invoking the "hashCode()" method).  "SUID" is the
   "stream unique identifier", which is a 64-bit number that uniquely
   identifies the serialization version of the class; SUID is optional
   in the repository id.

c. DCE-style

DCE:UUID

This format is used for DCE/CORBA interoperability [CORBA-DCE].
   "UUID" represents a DCE UUID.

d. "local"

This format is defined by the local Object Request Broker (ORB).

The corbaRepositoryId attribute is a multivalued attribute; each
   value records a single repository id of an interface implemented by
   the CORBA object.  This attribute need not contain a complete list of
   the interfaces implemented by the CORBA object.

This attribute's syntax is 'Directory String' and its case is
   significant.  The values of this attribute are encoded using UTF-8.
   Some values may require translation from their native representation
   in order to be correctly encoded using UTF-8.

( 1.3.6.1.4.1.42.2.27.4.1.15
    NAME 'corbaRepositoryId'
    DESC 'Repository ids of interfaces implemented by a CORBA object'
    EQUALITY caseExactMatch
    SYNTAX 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.115.121.1.15
   )

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RFC 2714           Schema for CORBA Object References       October 1999

4. Object Class Definitions

The following object classes are defined in this document:

corbaContainer
       corbaObject
       corbaObjectReference

4.1 corbaContainer

This structural object class represents a container for a CORBA
   object.

( 1.3.6.1.4.1.42.2.27.4.2.10
    NAME 'corbaContainer'
    DESC 'Container for a CORBA object'
    SUP top
    STRUCTURAL
    MUST ( cn )
   )

4.2 corbaObject

This abstract object class is the root class for representing a CORBA
   object.

( 1.3.6.1.4.1.42.2.27.4.2.9
    NAME 'corbaObject'
    DESC 'CORBA object representation'
    SUP top
    ABSTRACT
    MAY ( corbaRepositoryId $ description )
   )

4.3 corbaObjectReference

This auxiliary object class represents a CORBA object reference.  It
   must be mixed in with a structural object class.

( 1.3.6.1.4.1.42.2.27.4.2.11
    NAME 'corbaObjectReference'
    DESC 'CORBA interoperable object reference'
    SUP corbaObject
    AUXILIARY
    MUST ( corbaIor )
   )

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5. Security Considerations

Obtaining a reference to an object and storing it in the directory
   may make a handle to the object available to a wider audience.  This
   may have security implications.

6. Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Sanjeev Krishnan of Sun Microsystems, Simon
   Nash of IBM, and Jeffrey Spirn of Oracle for their comments and
   suggestions.

7. References

[CORBA]     The Object Management Group, "Common Object Request
               Broker Architecture Specification 2.2",
               http://www.omg.org

[CORBA-DCE] Distributed Systems Technology Center and Digital
               Equipment Corporation, "DCE/CORBA Interworking
               Specification", May 1998.
               http://www.omg.org/library/schedule/
               DCE_CORBA_Interworking_RFP.html

[LDAPv3]    Wahl, M., Howes, T. and S. Kille, "Lightweight Directory
               Access Protocol (v3)", RFC 2251, December 1997.

[RMI-IIOP]  IBM and Java Software, Sun Microsystems, Inc., "RMI over
               IIOP", June 1999.  http://java.sun.com/products/rmi-
               iiop/index.html

[v3Schema]  Wahl, M., "A Summary of the X.500(96) User Schema for use
               with LDAPv3", RFC 2256, December 1997.

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8. Authors' Addresses

Vincent Ryan
   Sun Microsystems, Inc.
   Mail Stop EDUB03
   901 San Antonio Road
   Palo Alto, CA 94303
   USA

Phone: +353 1 819 9151
   EMail: vincent.ryan@ireland.sun.com

Rosanna Lee
   Sun Microsystems, Inc.
   Mail Stop UCUP02-206
   901 San Antonio Road
   Palo Alto, CA 94303
   USA

Phone: +1 408 863 3221
   EMail: rosanna.lee@eng.sun.com

Scott Seligman
   Sun Microsystems, Inc.
   Mail Stop UCUP02-209
   901 San Antonio Road
   Palo Alto, CA 94303
   USA

Phone: +1 408 863 3222
   EMail: scott.seligman@eng.sun.com

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9. Appendix  - LDAP Schema

-- Attribute types --

-- from RFC-2256 --

( 2.5.4.13
    NAME 'description'
    EQUALITY caseIgnoreMatch
    SUBSTR caseIgnoreSubstringsMatch
    SYNTAX 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.115.121.1.15{1024}
   )

-- Object classes --

( 1.3.6.1.4.1.42.2.27.4.2.9
    NAME 'corbaObject'
    DESC 'CORBA object representation'
    SUP top
    ABSTRACT
    MAY ( corbaRepositoryId $ description )
   )

( 1.3.6.1.4.1.42.2.27.4.2.10
    NAME 'corbaContainer'
    DESC 'Container for a CORBA object'
    SUP top
    STRUCTURAL
    MUST ( cn )
   )

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( 1.3.6.1.4.1.42.2.27.4.2.11
    NAME 'corbaObjectReference'
    DESC 'CORBA interoperable object reference'
    SUP corbaObject
    AUXILIARY
    MUST ( corbaIor )
   )

-- Matching rule from ISO X.520 --

( 2.5.13.5
    NAME 'caseExactMatch'
    SYNTAX 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.115.121.1.15
   )

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10.  Full Copyright Statement

This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
   others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
   or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
   and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
   kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
   included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
   document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
   the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
   Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
   developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
   copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
   followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
   English.

The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
   revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
   TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
   BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
   MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
   Internet Society.

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