Proxy endpoints are the client-side equivalent of object adapter endpoints. A proxy endpoint identifies the protocol information used to contact a remote object, as shown in the following example:
tcp -h www.zeroc.com -p 10000
This endpoint states that an object is reachable via TCP on the host www.zeroc.com and the port 10000.
A proxy must have, or be able to obtain, at least one endpoint in order to be useful. A direct proxy contains one or more endpoints:
MyObject:tcp -h www.zeroc.com -p 10000:ssl -h www.zeroc.com -p 10001
In this example the object with the identity MyObject is available at two separate endpoints, one using TCP and the other using SSL.
If a direct proxy does not contain the -h option (that is, no host is specified), the Ice run time uses the value of the Ice.Default.Host property. If Ice.Default.Host is not defined, the localhost interface is used.
An indirect proxy uses a locator to retrieve the endpoints dynamically. One style of indirect proxy contains an adapter identifier:
MyObject @ MyAdapter
When this proxy requires the endpoints associated with MyAdapter, it requests them from the locator.