Apparatus and method for using a directory service for a user registry

• US 20020129153A1
• Filed: 03/06/2001
• Published: 09/12/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Fleming, Patrick Jerome
• Granted Patent: US 7,240,125 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/230
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation

Abstract

An apparatus and method provide an architected way for a web server to access a user registry in a directory service such as LDAP. In the preferred embodiments, the logic for presenting and processing a web page is encapsulated from the logic that interacts with the directory service, making it easy for a programmer to make changes to the a user registration form without having to have a detailed knowledge of the directory service and its interfaces.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory coupled to the at least one processor;

an input and formatting mechanism residing in the memory and executed by the at least one processor that receives data from a web page presented to a user and that formats the data into a first format;

a formatting mechanism residing in the memory and executed by the at least one processor that receives the data in the first format and that generates therefrom the data in a second format;

a directory service server residing in the memory and executed by the at least one processor that accesses a directory that has a plurality of entries, the plurality of entries including at least one entry that contains user registry information; and

a directory service client residing in the memory and executed by the at least one processor that receives the data in the second format and generates therefrom at least one command to the directory service server to access the user registry information in the directory.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the directory service server is a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server, and wherein the directory is an LDAP directory.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first format comprises Extensible Markup Language (XML).

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the second format comprises Directory Service Markup Language (DSML).

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the input and formatting mechanism comprises a servlet that formats the data into an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the formatting mechanism comprises a Java bean that uses an Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) stylesheet to convert the Extensible Markup Language (XML) document into a Directory Service Markup Language (DSML) document.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the directory service client comprises a Java bean that converts the DSML document into at least one command to the directory service server.

8. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory coupled to the at least one processor;

a user registration web page residing in the memory;

a page server mechanism residing in the memory and executed by the at least one processor that renders the user registration web page to a user;

a user registration servlet residing in the memory and executed by the at least one processor that receives data from the user registration web page when the user submits the user registration web page and that formats the data into an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document;

a user registry Java bean residing in the memory and executed by the at least one processor that receives the XML document and that generates therefrom a Directory Service Markup Language (DSML) document according to information in an Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) stylesheet;

a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server residing in the memory and executed by the at least one processor that accesses an LDAP directory that has a plurality of entries, the plurality of entries including at least one entry that contains user registry information; and

an LDAP Java bean residing in the memory and executed by the at least one processor that receives the DSML document and generates therefrom at least one command to the LDAP server to access the user registry information in the LDAP directory.

9. A method for accessing a user registry stored in a directory service, the method comprising the steps of:

(A) receiving data in a form;

(B) extracting the data from the form;

(C) formatting the data into a first format;

(D) processing the data in the first format to generate the data in a second format;

(E) processing the data in the second format, and generating therefrom at least one command to access the user registry in the directory service.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the directory service is a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) service.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the first format comprises Extensible Markup Language (XML).

12. The method of claim 9 wherein the second format comprises Directory Service Markup Language (DSML).

13. The method of claim 9 wherein step (C) comprises the step of formatting the data into an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein step (D) comprises the steps of:

(D1) processing the XML document according to information in an Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) stylesheet; and

(D2) generating a Directory Service Markup Language (DSML) document from the XML document.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein step (E) comprises the steps of:

(E1) processing the DSML document; and

(E2) generating from the DSML document at least one command to access the user registry in the directory service.

18. The program product of claim 17 wherein the signal bearing media comprises recordable media.

19. The program product of claim 17 wherein the signal bearing media comprises transmission media.

20. The program product of claim 17 wherein the directory service server is a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server, and wherein the directory is an LDAP directory.

21. The program product of claim 17 wherein the first format comprises Extensible Markup Language (XML).

22. The program product of claim 17 wherein the second format comprises Directory Service Markup Language (DSML).

23. The program product of claim 17 wherein the input and formatting mechanism comprises a servlet that formats the data into an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document.

24. The program product of claim 23 wherein the formatting mechanism comprises a Java bean that uses an Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) stylesheet to convert the XML document into a Directory Service Markup Language (DSML) document.

25. The program product of claim 24 wherein the directory service client comprises a Java bean that converts the DSML document into at least one command to the directory service server.

16. A method for accessing a user registry stored in an LDAP directory, the method comprising the steps of:

(A) displaying a form to a user;

(B) receiving data in the form from the user;

(C) extracting the data from the form;

(D) formatting the extracted data into an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document;

(E) processing the XML document using information in an Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) stylesheet to generate a Directory Service Markup Language (DSML) document;

(F) processing the DSML document, and generating therefrom at least one command to access the user registry in the LDAP directory.

17. A program product comprising:

(A) an input and formatting mechanism that receives data from a web page presented to a user and that formats the data into a first format;

(B) a formatting mechanism that receives the data in the first format and that generates therefrom the data in a second format;

(C) a directory service server that accesses a directory that has a plurality of entries, the plurality of entries including at least one entry that contains user registry information;

(D) a directory service client that receives the data in the second format and generates therefrom at least one command to the directory service server to access the user registry information in the directory; and

(E) computer-readable signal bearing media bearing (A), (B), (C) and (D).

26. A program product comprising:

(A) a user registration page that includes a user registration web page;

(B) a page server mechanism that renders the user registration web page to a user;

(C) a user registration servlet that receives data from the user registration web page and that formats the data into an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document;

(D) a user registry Java bean that receives the XML document and that generates therefrom a Directory Service Markup Language (DSML) document according to information in an Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) stylesheet;

(E) a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server that accesses an LDAP directory that has a plurality of entries, the plurality of entries including at least one entry that contains user registry information;

(F) an LDAP Java bean that receives the DSML document and generates therefrom at least one command to the LDAP server to access the user registry information in the LDAP directory; and

(G) computer-readable signal bearing media bearing (A), (B), (C), (D), (E) and (F).