The name service exists to store server binding information into the cell namespace, and to retrieve that information for clients. Using NSI, servers export their binding information to be stored under meaningful names, and clients import these bindings by looking up those names. Thus, the locations of the servers can change, but clients can continue to use the same names to get bindings to the servers. The following figure shows how client and server use the name service.
Client and Server Use of the Name Service
When a prospective client attempts to import binding information from a namespace entry that it looks up by name, the binding is checked by NSI for compatibility with the client. This is done by comparing interface UUIDs. The client presents an interface UUID when it begins the binding import operation; the UUID of the interface being offered is exported to the name entry, but not in the binding handle itself, by the server. If these interface UUIDs match, then the binding handle contained in the entry is considered compatible by the RPC runtime and is returned to the client. If more than one handle is contained in the entry (this is often the case), they are returned one by one on successive imports. NSI also checks for protocol compatibility.
The import routines will return only client-compatible bindings, but a client can sift through the returned bindings and make its own choice as to which ones to use, based on its own criteria. The technique by which this is done consists of converting the bindings into string bindings, and then inspecting (or comparing) the strings.
Note that binding handles do not include an interface UUID. Binding handles do contain a host address, an endpoint, and an optional object UUID, among other things. The interface UUID is associated with the interface's stub code, which inserts it into outgoing RPCs and checks it in incoming ones, thus guaranteeing client/server operational compatibility. This allows binding handles to be used very flexibly: once a client has successfully bound to a server, it can utilize any of the interfaces that server offers, simply by making the desired remote call.