Re: UUID's

Hi Dan,

Theoretically, a Universal Unique Identifier (UUID),  is an 128 bit value
which is guaranteed to be unique across space and time until 3400 A.D.
Practically, it depends on the algorithm used to generate it, but in all
cases, it remains _extremely_ unlikely that you'll run across a duplicate.

It was created by the Open Software Foundation (OSF) as part of their
Distributed Computing Environment (DCE), in order to solve the problem of
being able to uniquely identify objects in a cross-network environment. The
term "Object", in this case, is used very loosely.

You may be more familiar with the term Globally Unique Identifier (GUID)
which was popularized by Microsoft. It's the same thing. Microsoft uses a
GUID in many different ways. For example, in an NT Network, it is used to
identify every user, group and computer. When used in this context, it's
commonly referred to as a "SID ", or Unique Security Identifier. Another
popular example of it's use is within Office 97, and Office 2000 to uniquely
identify every document created in those packages.

It's potential uses are limited only by your imagination.

If you're interested in a more technical explanation, then point your
browser to the following link:

http://www.ics.uci.edu/~ejw/authoring/uuid-guid/draft-leach-uuids-guids-01.t
xt


Regards,

John Taylor
Canada

----- Original Message -----
From: <D.BALE@handleman.com>
To: <MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com>
Sent: Friday, November 10, 2000 10:43
Subject: Re: UUID's


> OK, you guys have piqued my interest.  What are UUID's and how/why are
they
> used?
>
> Dan Bale
> IT - AS/400
> Handleman Company
> 248-362-4400  Ext. 4952
>


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