DECnet-Plus Node Names

Whereas DECnet Phase IV node names consist of up to six straightforward characters, DECnet-Plus (if available on your system) allows longer node names with a wider range of legal characters. These are referred to as node full names.

A node full name can be up to 255 characters in length and can include any characters except commas, quotation marks, slashes, apostrophes, parentheses, and double colons. A single colon may not be the first or last character.

However, if a node full name is enclosed in quotation marks, it can contain any of the characters just mentioned, except unpaired quotation marks. In this case, quotation marks in the node name must each be doubled, as shown below. Some examples of valid full names are as follows:

     TAMPA     LOCAL:.DNS4     "DALLAS:.HEADQUARTERS.""ACCOUNTING""" 

DECnet-Plus nodes may also have Phase IV–style names and network addresses assigned to them to provide compatibility with Phase IV nodes elsewhere on the network.