# Naming Methods Configuration, Novell NDS

Novell Novell Directory Services (NDS) allows you to use native NDS naming conventions to connect to an Oracle database on a Novell NDS-enabled network.

Name Context

Enter a naming context in the NDS tree where the database object resides.

How you enter the naming context determines the service name used in the connect string. The naming context can be a full name or a partial name. If it is a partial name, it will be qualified with respect to the current name context.

If the name of the database object is `Payroll.Finance.Oracle` and the naming context is `Finance.Oracle`, then `Payroll` needs only to be specified in the connect string. `Payroll` is qualified to `.Payroll.Finance.Oracle`.

If the naming context is `ou=Finance.o=Oracle`, then the connect string would have to include a name of `cn=Payroll.ou=Finance.o=Oracle`.

The naming context will override the "name context" entry in the `client32net.cfg` file. If no name context is specified in either file, it defaults to [root].

| See Also: Chapter 6, Configuring Naming Methods, in the Net8 Administrator's Guide to complete configuration