ISO/IEC 19500-2:2003

Information technology — Open Distributed Processing — Part 2: General Inter-ORB Protocol (GIOP)/Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP)

ISO/IEC 19500-2:2003 specifies the General Inter-ORB Protocol (GIOP) for object request broker (ORB) interoperability. GIOP can be mapped onto any connection-oriented transport protocol that meets a minimal set of assumptions defined by this standard. ISO/IEC 19500-2:2003 also defines the Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP), a specific mapping of the GIOP which runs directly over connections that use the Internet Protocol and the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP/IP connections). ISO/IEC 19500-2:2003 provides a widely implemented and used particularization of ITU-T Rec. X.931 | ISO/IEC 14752. It supports interoperability and location transparency in ODP systems.

Technologies de l'information — Traitement réparti ouvert — Partie 2: <<General Inter-ORB Protocol (GIOP)/Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP)>>

General Information

• Status: Withdrawn
• Publication Date: 30-Mar-2003
• Withdrawal Date: 30-Mar-2003
• ICS: 35.080 - Software
• Technical Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 - Software and systems engineering
• Drafting Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 - Software and systems engineering
• Current Stage: 9599 - Withdrawal of International Standard
• Completion Date: 20-Apr-2012

Relations

• Revised: ISO/IEC 19500-2:2012 - Information technology — Object Management Group — Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) — Part 2: Interoperability
• Effective Date: 18-Dec-2008

Standards Content (Sample)

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 19500-2
First edition
2003-04-01


Information technology — Open
Distributed Processing —
Part 2:
General Inter-ORB Protocol
(GIOP)/Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP)
Technologies de l'information — Traitement réparti ouvert —
Partie 2: «General Inter-ORB Protocol (GIOP)/Internet Inter-ORB
Protocol (IIOP)»



Reference number
ISO/IEC 19500-2:2003(E)
©
ISO/IEC 2003

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ISO/IEC 19500-2:2003(E)
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ISO/IEC 19500-2:2003 (E)
1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 Normative references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2.1 Identical Recommendations | International Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2.2 Other Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3.1 Recommendations | International Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3.2 Other Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2.1 adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2.2 Attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2.3 client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2.4 data type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2.5 domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2.6 dynamic invocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2.7 dynamic skeleton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2.8 implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2.9 interface repository . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2.10 ORB core . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2.11 repository . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2.12 request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2.13 results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2.14 server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2.15 signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2.16 skeleton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2.17 synchronous request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2.18 interface type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2.19 interoperability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2.20 language binding or mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2.21 method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2.22 object adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2.23 object implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2.24 object reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2.25 objref . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2.26 value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.3 Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4 Introduction to GIOP/IIOP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5 ORB Interoperability Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5.1.1 Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5.1.2 Bridging Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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5.2 ORBs and ORB Services 7
5.2.1 The Nature of ORB Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5.2.2 ORB Services and Object Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5.2.3 Selection of ORB Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5.3 Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5.3.1 Definition of a Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5.3.2 Mapping Between Domains: Bridging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.4 Interoperability Between ORBs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.4.1 ORB Services and Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.4.2 ORBs and Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.4.3 Interoperability Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.4.4 Policy-Mediated Bridging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
5.4.5 Configurations of Bridges in Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
5.5 Object Addressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
5.5.1 Domain-relative Object Referencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
5.5.2 Handling of Referencing Between Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5.6 An Information Model for Object References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
5.6.1  What Information Do Bridges Need? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5.6.2 Interoperable Object References: IORs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5.6.3 Standard IOR Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.6.4 Profile and Component Composition in IORs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.6.5 IOR Creation and Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
5.6.6 Stringified Object References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
5.6.7 Object Service Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.7 Code Set Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.7.1 Character Processing Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.7.2 Code Set Conversion Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.7.3 Mapping to Generic Character Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.8 Example of Generic Environment Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5.8.1 Generic Mappings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5.8.2 Interoperation and Generic Mappings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5.9 Relevant OSFM Registry Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5.9.1 Character and Code Set Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
5.9.2 Access Routines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6 General Inter-ORB Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
6.1 Goals of the General Inter-ORB Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
6.1.1 GIOP Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
6.1.2 Common Data Representation (CDR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
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6.1.3 GIOP Message Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6.1.4 GIOP Message Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6.2 CDR Transfer Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6.2.1 Primitive Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
6.2.2 OMG IDL Constructed Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
6.2.3 Value Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
6.2.4 Pseudo-Object Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
6.2.5 Object References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
6.2.6 Abstract Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
6.3 GIOP Message Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
6.3.1 GIOP Message Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6.3.2 Request Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
6.3.3 Reply Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
6.3.4 CancelRequest Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6.3.5 LocateRequest Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
6.3.6 LocateReply Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
6.3.7 CloseConnection Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
6.3.8 MessageError Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
6.3.9 Fragment Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
6.4 GIOP Message Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
6.4.1 Connection Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
6.4.2 Message Ordering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
6.5 Object Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
6.6 Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
6.6.1 TCP/IP Connection Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
6.6.2 IIOP IOR Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
6.6.3 IIOP IOR Profile Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
6.7 Bi-Directional GIOP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
6.7.1 Bi-Directional IIOP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
6.8 Bi-directional GIOP policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.9 OMG IDL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
6.9.1 GIOP Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
6.9.2 IIOP Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
6.9.3 BiDirPolicy Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
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ISO/IEC 19500-2:2003 (E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members of
ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees
established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC
technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental
and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work. In the field of information
technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of the joint technical committee is to prepare International Standards. Draft International
Standards adopted by the joint technical committee are circulated to national bodies for voting. Publication as
an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the national bodies casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO/IEC 19500-2 was prepared by the Object Management Group (OMG) and was adopted, under the PAS
procedure, by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology, in parallel with its approval
by national bodies of ISO and IEC.
ISO/IEC 19500 consists of the following parts, under the general title Information technology — Open
Distributed Processing:
 Part 2: General Inter-ORB Protocol (GIOP)/Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP)
NOTE Other parts will be added in the future.

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ISO/IEC 19500-2:2003 (E)
Introduction
The rapid growth of distributed processing has lead to a need for a coordinating framework for the standardization of
Open Distributed Processing (ODP). ITU-T Recommendations X.901-904 | ISO/IEC 10746, the Reference Model of
Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP) provides such a framework. It defines an architecture within which support
of distribution, interoperability and portability can be integrated.
Within the framework provided by the RM-ODP, ITU-T Rec. X.931 | ISO/IEC 14752, ODP - Protocol Support for
Computational Interactions, defines how interactions between computational objects in a computational specification
of a system relate to protocol support for those interactions in an engineering specification of that system.
Annex A to ITU-T Rec. X.931 | ISO/IEC 14752 defines a mapping to the General Inter-ORB Protocol (GIOP) and
the Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP) which are specified by this International Standard.
GIOP is the base for all interoperability and support for all object request broker (ORB) functionality in the Common
Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) specified by the Object Management Group (OMG). IIOP is the
mapping of GIOP for the Internet.
Note: This document is technically aligned with the OMG CORBA GIOP and IIOP specifications.
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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 19500-2:2003(E)
Information technology — Open Distributed Processing —
Part 2:
General Inter-ORB Protocol (GIOP)/Internet Inter-ORB Protocol
(IIOP)
1 Scope
This standard specifies the General Inter-ORB Protocol (GIOP) for object request broker (ORB) interoperability.
GIOP can be mapped onto any connection-oriented transport protocol that meets a minimal set of assumptions
defined by this standard.
This standard also defines the Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP), a specific mapping of the GIOP which runs
directly over connections that use the Internet Protocol and the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP/IP connections).
This standard provides a widely implemented and used particularization of ITU-T Rec. X.931 | ISO/IEC 14752, Information
technology — Open Distributed Processing — Protocol support for computational interactions. It supports interoperability
and location transparency in ODP systems.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated references,
only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including
any amendments) applies.
2.1 Identical Recommendations | International Standards
• ITU-T Recommendation X.902 (1995) | ISO/IEC 10746-2:1996, Information technology — Open Distributed
Processing — Reference Model: Foundations
• ITU-T Recommendation X.903 (1995) | ISO/IEC 10746-3:1996, Information technology — Open Distributed
Processing — Reference Model: Architecture
• ITU-T Recommendation X.920 (1997) | ISO/IEC 14750:1999, Information technology — Open Distributed
Processing — Interface Definition Language
• ISO/IEC 14752:2000, Information technology — Open Distributed Processing — Protocol support for
computational interactions
• ISO/IEC 8859-1: 1998, Information technology — 8-bit single-byte coded graphic character sets — Part 1:
Latin alphabet No. 1
• ISO/IEC 10646-1:2000, Information technology — Universal Multiple-Octect Coded Character Set (UCS) —
Part 1: Architecture and Basic Multilingual Plane
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ISO/IEC 19500-2:2003 (E)
2.2 Other Specifications
• CORBA 2.3 - The Common Object Request Broker: Architecture and Specification, Revision 2.3, Object
Management Group, June 1999 (OMG Doc Number: Formal/98-12-01, ftp://ftp.omg.org/pub/docs/for-
mal/98-12-01.pdf)
• CORBAservices: Common Object Services Specification, Object Management Group, December 1998
(OMG Doc Number: Formal/98-12-09, ftp://ftp.omg.org/pub/docs/formal/98-12-09.pdf)
TM
• Java to IDL Language Mapping, Object Management Group, July 1999 (OMG Doc Number:
Formal/99-07-59, ftp://ftp.omg.org/pub/docs/formal/99-07-59.pdf)
• STD 007 (also, RFC 793), Transmission Control Protocol, J. Postel, Internet Engineering Task Force, Sept.
1981
• STD 005 (also, RFC 791), Internet Protocol, J. Postel, Internet Engineering Task Force, Sept. 1981
• OSF Character and Code Set Registry, OSF DCE FRC 40.1 (Public Version), S. (Martin) O’Donnell, June
1994.
• RPC Runtime Support For I18N Characters — Functional Specification, OSF DCE SIG RFC 41.2, M.
Romagna, R. Mackey, November 1994.
3 Definitions
For the purposes of this International Standard, the following definitions apply:
3.1 Recommendations | International Standards
This International Standard makes use of the following terms defined in ITU-T Rec. X.902 | ISO/IEC 10746-2:
behavior
interface
instance
object
state
type
This International Standard makes use of the following terms defined in ITU-T Rec. X.903 | ISO/IEC 10746-3:

operation
stub
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ISO/IEC 19500-2:2003 (E)
3.2 Other Specifications
3.2.1 adapter
Same as object adapter.
3.2.2 Attribute
An identifiable association between an object and a value. An attribute A is made visable to clients as a pair of
operations: get_A and set_A. Readonly attributes only generate a get operation.
3.2.3 client
The code or process that invokes an operation on an object.
3.2.4 data type
A categorization of values operation arguments, typically covering both behavior and representation (i.e., the
traditional no-OO programming language notion of type.)
3.2.5 domain
A concept important to interoperability, it is a distinct scope, within which common characteristics are exhibited,
common rules observed, and over which a distribution transparency is preserved.
3.2.6 dynamic invocation
Constructing and issuing a request whose signature is possibly not known until run-time.
3.2.7 dynamic skeleton
An interface-independent kind of skeleton, used by servers to handle requests whose signatures are possibly not
known until run-time.
3.2.8 implementation
A definition that provides the information needed to create an object and allow the object to participate in providing
an appropriate set of services. An implementation typically includes a description of the data structure used to
represent the core state associated with an object, as well as definitions of the methods that access that data structure.
It will also typically include information about the intended interface of the object.
3.2.9 interface repository
A storage place for interface information.
3.2.10 ORB core
The ORB component which moves a request from a client to the appropriate adapter for the target object.
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ISO/IEC 19500-2:2003 (E)
3.2.11 repository
See interface repository and implementation repository.
3.2.12 request
A client issues a request to cause a service to be perfomed. A request consists of an operation and zero or more actual
parameters.
3.2.13 results
The information returned to the client, which may include values as well as status information indicating that
exceptional conditions were raised in attempting to perform the requested service.
3.2.14 server
A process implementing one or more operations on one or more objects.
3.2.15 signature
Defines the parameters of a given operation including their number order, data types, and passing mode; the results if
any; and the possible outcomes (normal vs. exceptional) that might occur.
3.2.16 skeleton
The object-interface-specific ORB component which assists an object adapter in passing requests to particular
methods.
3.2.17 synchronous request
A request where the client pauses to wiat for completion of the request. Contrast with deferred synchronous request
and one-way request.
3.2.18 interface type
A type satisfied by any object that satisfies a particular interface.
3.2.19 interoperability
The ability for tow or more ORBs to cooperate to deliver requests to the proper object. Interoperating ORBs appear to
a client to be a single ORB.
3.2.20 language binding or mapping
The means and conventions by which a programmer writing in a specific programming language accesses ORB
capabilities.
3.2.21 method
An implementation of an operation. Code that may be executed to perform a requested service. Methods associated
with an object may be structured into one or more programs.
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ISO/IEC 19500-2:2003 (E)
3.2.22 object adapter
The ORB component which provides object reference, activation, and state related services to an object
implementation. There may be different adapters provided for different kinds of implementations.
3.2.23 object implementation
Same as implementation.
3.2.24 object reference
A value that unambiguously identifies an object. Object references are never reused to identify another object.
3.2.25 objref
An abbreviation for object reference.
3.2.26 value
Any entity that may be a possible actual parameter in a request. Values that serve to identify objects are called object
references.
3.3 Abbreviations
For the purposes of this International Standard, the following abbreviations apply:
ADT Abstract Data Type
CCCS Client Conversion Code Sets
CCS Conversion Code Sets
CDR Common Data Representation
CMIR Client Makes it Right
CNCS Client Native Code Set
CORBA Common Object Request Broker Architecture
DCE Distributed Computing Environment
OMG Object Management Group
GIOP General Inter-ORB Protocol
IDL Interface Definition Language
IIOP Internet Inter-ORB Protocol
IOR Interoperable Object Reference
ORB Object Request Broker
SCCS Server Conv
...