atomic-name

In a hierarchical naming system like JNDI, we need a way to refer to individual name components. How do we represent the smallest, indivisible unit of a name that cannot be further subdivided?

An atomic name is a simple, basic, indivisible name in JNDI. Examples include etc, fstab, usr, bin — each is a single component that cannot be split further. They are the building blocks of compound names.

1. Atomic names are the leaf components in a compound name
2. In /etc/fstab, the atomic names are etc and fstab
3. In JNDI, each binding in a context has a distinct atomic name
4. Atomic names are combined with a syntax (like /) to form compound names
5. They serve as keys in the binding table of a context

• Indivisible: Cannot be split into smaller naming components
• Syntax-independent: The atomic name itself doesn’t include separators
• Unique within context: Each atomic name in a context maps to one binding
• Case-sensitive: Typically, atomic names are case-sensitive
• Building block: Combined to form compound names

• Built from: JNDI Naming Concepts — atomic names are part of JNDI naming
• Builds into: Compound Name — atomic names combine to form compound names
• Related: JNDI Context — contexts contain bindings with atomic names
• Related: JNDI Binding — each binding has an atomic name as its key

• Special characters: Some characters may have special meaning in compound name syntax
• Length limits: Providers may impose limits on atomic name length
• Reserved words: Some names may be reserved by the provider