Abstract

Object virtualization provides a hierarchy of layers of spaces in which an object is accessible. The hierarchy of layers may include a physical layer containing the physical space in which the object is accessible, and virtual layers containing an arbitrary number of virtual spaces in which an object is accessible. Each virtual space is isolated from one another, so that objects accessible in one virtual space may not necessarily be accessible in another. Interfaces to objects that may be accessible in spaces in the hierarchy of layers facilitate accessing objects in the appropriate space. The appropriate space may be determined from the order of the layers in the hierarchy, alone or in combination with other information about the object and/or the component accessing the object. Accessing the objects in the appropriate space advantageously reduces or eliminates the number of namespace collisions in a computer system.