Tech Note #37: Introduction to the TOAD
TM
Protocol
©
1998 Bionic Buffalo Corporation; All Rights Reserved.
12 June 1998
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Bionic Buffalo Tech Note #37:
Introduction to the TOAD
TM
Protocol
last revised Friday 12 June 1998
©1998 Bionic Buffalo Corporation. All rights reserved.
Tatanka and TOAD are trademarks of Bionic Buffalo Corporation.
Introduction
The Tractable Object Advertising and Discovery (TOAD
TM
) protocol is used for object
advertising and discovery in networked systems. Objects are entities with identities, classes, and
properties. Object identities and classes are specified using arbitrary octet sequences. Object
properties are typed values, using a very limited set of types.
In a standalone node, without a network, a TOAD agent offers advertising and discovery
services to the applications within the node.
applications
supplying or
using objects
agent providing
advertising and
discovery services
When the same node is placed on a network, the applications continue to use the same agent
and the same API. The agent expands the domain of objects and classes available to
applications, by combining its own node’s advertised objects with those of other nodes.
On a network, agents have two functions: satisfaction of local advertising and discovery
requests, and operation of the network protocols used to co-operate with other nodes. In
operating systems, which expose network services to the applications, the same well-known
port or access point can be used to access the agent from both inside and outside.