The Distributed feature is built around the concept of object spaces. Local object spaces are used to manage the local image, of the distributed system. Likewise, remote object spaces are used to represent a remote image, of the distributed system. For the user, the object space, identified by an object space key, provides the means of location for objects. Through the use of the name server, the location of an object can be defined. To change the location of an object, only the entry in the name server needs to change. In addition, object spaces provides the base level of control for connection management. Object spaces are used to connect and disconnect images in the distributed system.

The Distributed feature provides methods to query object spaces and manage connections. The following API methods are available:

SST also provides object spaces to manage remote objects. The SST object spaces manage the namespace and manage the exporting of objects to other object spaces. On top of the remote object model, SST provides application contexts to manage the distributed system on an application basis. Each application in an image can have its distributed environment separately managed through its own context. The APIs to create an object space requires a machine name and a URL to be supplied. The following partial list of APIs, on class SstApplicationContext, can be used to create, setup, and delete spaces:

A URL string defines the element of location for object spaces. The URL string is used to set up an object space and defines information such as, invocation scheme, transport name, and transport-specific address. The general form is as follows:

A specific URL example for TCP is--

The SstApplicationContext handles the management of the distributed system. The context can be used to start up and shutdown the distributed system through the following API methods on class SstApplicationContext: