.TH NS 8
.CT 1 sa_auto
.SH NAME
ns \- name server database
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B /usr/ipc/mgrs/ns
[
.B -m
.I server
] [
.B -d
]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Ns
maintains a database
of naming information,
accessed by
.IR qns (7)
and other programs.
It should be run once from
.IR rc (8).
.PP
The database is accessed
through local service
.BR ns ,
or service
.I server
if option
.B -m
was specified.
.PP
The file
.F /usr/ipc/lib/ns.db
contains instructions for building the database.
These instructions are lines 
of one of the following forms:
.TP \w'#include\0file\0\0\0\0'u		\" wrong fonts; near enough?
.BI #uusys " file"
Read the named
.I uucp
.B Systems
.IR file .
For entries using caller
.LR ACU ,
add a database entry containing
.RS
.IP
.I system\0
.IB telephone-number ,tel\0
.B uucp,svc
.PP
For entries using caller
.LR DK
or
.LR DKH ,
add an entry containing
.IP
.I system\0
.IB datakit-address ,dk\0
.B uucp,svc
.PP
For any other entry,
add
.IP
.I system\0
.B uucp,svc
.RE
.TP
.BI #inhost " file"
For each line in the named
4BSD-style internet hosts
.IR file ,
add a database entry of the form
.RS
.IP
.IB ip-address ,in\0
.I hostname\0
.IB host-domain-name ,dom
.RE
.TP
.BI #innet " file"
For each line in the named
4BSD-style internet networks
.IR file ,
add a database entry of the form
.RS
.IP
.IB ip-net-address ,in\0
.I netname
.RE
.TP
.BI #include " file"
Interpret
the contents of
.IR file
in the same format
as
.BR ns.db .
.PP
In all cases,
.I file
may be followed by
a list of
.I value,attribute
pairs to be included with any
database entries caused by that file.
If the filename doesn't begin with
.LR / ,
it is prefixed with
.BR /usr/ipc/lib .
.PP
Blank lines
and
lines beginning with
.L #
followed by a space or tab
are ignored.
.PP
Any other lines are taken as literal database entries:
a collection of
.I value,attribute
pairs separated by spaces.
Each line is a single entry.
.PP
The database is ephemeral;
it is rebuilt whenever
.I ns
starts,
when requested by
.BR "qns reset" ,
or when
.I ns
notices that
.B ns.db
or one of the files named therein
has changed.
Rebuilding can take several minutes,
especially on a busy machine.
During a rebuild,
the server appears active but does not answer requests;
calls will block until the rebuild finishes.
.PP
.I Ns
leaves remarks in file
.FR /usr/ipc/log/ns .
There are more remarks if the
.B -d
option was used.
.SH FILES
.F /usr/ipc/lib/ns.db
.SH SEE ALSO
.IR ipc (3),
.IR qns (7)