Every DECdns entity has attributes, which are pieces or sets of data associated with that entity. Characteristics are attributes that reflect or affect the operational behavior of an entity. The following are descriptions of valid characteristics: DNS$ChildCTS Specifies the creation timestamp (CTS) of the child directory referenced by the child pointer. DNS$CTS Specifies the CTS of the specified child pointer. DNS$Replicas Specifies the address, CTS, and name of a set of clearinghouses where a copy of the child directory referenced by the child pointer is located. This attribute also specifies whether the directory in a particular clearinghouse is a master or read-only replica. DNS$UTS Specifies the timestamp of the most recent update to an attribute of the child pointer.