nistest(1)                                                         User Commands                                                        nistest(1)

NAME

       nistest - return the state of the NIS+ namespace using a conditional expression

SYNOPSIS

       nistest [-ALMP] [-a rights | -t type]  object

       nistest [-ALMP] [-a rights] indexedname

       nistest -c dir1 op dir2

DESCRIPTION

       nistest  provides  a  way  for  shell scripts and other programs to test for the existence, type, and access rights of objects and entries.
       Entries are named using indexed names. See nismatch(1). With the -c option, directory names can be compared to test where they lie in rela-
       tion to each other in the namespace.

OPTIONS

       The following options are supported:

       -a rights       This  option  is  used to verify that the current process has the  desired or required access rights on the named object or
                       entries. The access rights are specified in the same way as the nischmod(1) command.

       -A              All data. This option specifies that the data within the table and all of  the data in tables in the initial  table's  con-
                       catenation path be returned. This option is only valid when using indexed names or following links.

       -L              Follow links.  If the object named by object or the tablename component of indexedname names a  LINK type object,  the link
                       is followed when this switch is present.

       -M              Master server only. This option specifies that the lookup should be sent to the master server of the named data. This guar-
                       antees that the most up to date information is seen at the possible expense that the master server may be busy.

       -P              Follow  concatenation  path.  This option specifies that the lookup should  follow the concatenation path of a table if the
                       initial search is unsuccessful. This option is only valid when using indexed names or following links.

       -t type         This option tests the type of object. The value of type can be one of the following:

                       D        Return true if the object is a directory object.

                       G        Return true if the object is a group object.

                       L        Return true if the object is a link object.

                       P        Return true if the object is a private object.

                       T        Return true if the object is a table object.

       -c              Test whether or not two directory names have a certain relationship to each other, for example, higher than (ht)  or  lower
                       than (lt).  The complete list of values for op can be displayed by using the -c option with no arguments.

EXAMPLES

       Example 1: Using the nistest Command

       When  testing  for  access  rights,  nistest returns success (0) if the specified rights are granted to the current user. Thus, testing for
       access rights:

       example% nistest -a w=mr skippy.domain

       Tests that all authenticated NIS+ clients have read and modify access to the object named skippy.domain.

       Testing for access on a particular entry in a table can be accomplished using the indexed name syntax. The following example tests  to  see
       if an entry in the password table can be modified:

       example% nistest -a o=m '[uid=99],passwd.org_dir'

       To test if a directory lies higher in the namespace than another directory, use the -c option with an op of ht (higher than) as in the fol-
       lowing example (which would return true):

       example% nistest -c dom.com. ht lower.dom.com.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       NIS_PATH                        If this variable is set, and the NIS+ name is  not  fully  qualified,  each  directory  specified  will  be
                                       searched until the object is found. See nisdefaults(1).

EXIT STATUS

       The following exit values are returned:

       0        Successful operation.

       1        Failure due to object not present, not of specified type, and/or no such access.

       2        Failure due to illegal usage.

ATTRIBUTES

       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE         |      ATTRIBUTE VALUE        |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Availability                 |SUNWnisu                     |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

SEE ALSO

       nis+(1), nischmod(1), nisdefaults(1), nismatch(1), attributes(5)

NOTES

       NIS+  might  not  be  supported in future releases of the SolarisTM Operating Environment. Tools to aid the migration from NIS+ to LDAP are
       available in the Solaris 9 operating environment. For more information, visit http://www.sun.com/directory/nisplus/transition.html.

SunOS 5.10                                                          10 Dec 2001                                                         nistest(1)