Characteristics Field Value
The authorizer DBM reports characteristics in a PUIDNETD_DATA_AUTHZ_CH field ('E'). That field has a format described in puidnetd.h. The field has comma-separated elements which consist of a prefix, a value, and a creator stamp.
Prefix
There are three prefixes, defining the characteristic type. The type characters have the indicated symbols, defined in puidnetd.h.
- g -- PUIDNETDZ_CHTY_GLOB; defines a global characteristic.
- p -- PUIDNETDZ_CHTY_PRIV;defines a private characteristic.
- w -- PUIDNETDZ_CHTY_BWD; defines a basic word characteristic, which may be private or global. Word characteristics currently are those numbered 0 (zero) through 31. They occupy a but array in the authorizer DBM's memory for fast access.
- + -- PUIDNETDZ_CHTY_CONT; defines a continuation, which should appear at the beginning of a field, immediately after the PUIDNETD_DATA_AUTHZ_CH ('E') character; in that position it indicates that the previous instance of the field is being continued by this one. (See the example in the Example section below.)
If there is no prefix, it is a global characteristic.
If a basic word characteristic is private, it will be represented by both p and w elements.
Value
The value is a decimal integer, representing a private or global characteristic, or the value of the basic word characteristics as an integer in hexadecimal format.
The Creator Stamp
The creator stamp is made of two values, enclosed in parentheses and separated by a comma. The first value is the characteristic's creator PUID, and the second is the creation time (See DBM Times.)
Library Support
The PUID external library, libpuidX, has a function, puidnetdz_asmch(3), which will parse authorization characteristics strings and assemble them into a structure for C programs.
Examples
Here are some examples that illustrate use of the characteristics field value format.
Ew3,1536(0,984832032.320),g2029
w3 -- a word value for characteristics 0 and 1
1536 -- a global characteristic number (Noter the absence of a pregix.)
(26,984832032) -- the creator (26) and creation time (984832032) for characteristic 1563
g2029 -- a global characteristic
Ew5,p4(18,984832032.39)
wf -- a word value for characteristics 0 through 3
p4 -- a private characteristic marker for characteristic 2
(18,984832032.39) -- the creator PUID and creation time for private characteristic 2
Ew5 E+p4(18,984832032.39)
Represents the same values as w5,p4(18,984832032.39), but in two fields, the second of which is a continuation of the first.