Method and data format for exchanging data between a Java system database entry and an LDAP directory service

• US 6,366,954 B1
• Filed: 01/29/1999
• Issued: 04/02/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Saulpaugh, Tom, Slaughter, Gregory L., Traversat, Bernard A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dinh, Dung C.
• Application Number:
  US09/239,596
• Time in Patent Office: 1,159 Days
• Field of Search: 709/200, 709/221, 709/222, 713/1, 713/2, 713/100, 707/100, 707/104, 707/200
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3476 Data logging G06F11/14, G06F11/2205 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/282 Hierarchical databases, e.g. IMS, LDAP data stores or Lotus Notes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/80 Database-specific techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

Methods, data formats, and computer program products are disclosed for exchanging configuration data between a configuration server schema residing on a configuration server and a network directory service. The exchange of data is significantly enhanced through the use of an extension to a network directory service enabling a rapid mapping between a directory service attribute and a configuration server property. A directory service entry includes multiple shadow attributes where each shadow attribute corresponds to a particular directory service attribute. The particular directory service attribute, in turn, has a corresponding property in the configuration server. The extension also includes a correspondence or path matching file that contains matches between directory service addresses and configuration server location identifier or paths. Through the use of the shadwo attributes and the path matching file, configuration data can be exchanged efficiently and rapidly between a configuration server and a network directory service.

Claims

1. An extension to a directory service enabling a mapping between a directory attribute and a configuration server property, the extension comprising:

a directory entry including one or more shadow attributes, each shadow attribute corresponding to a particular standard directory attribute wherein the particular standard directory attribute has a corresponding property in a configuration server; and

a directory address and configuration server location identifier correspondence file containing matches between a directory address and a configuration server location identifier.

2. An extension to a directory service as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

an directory service meta directory containing a type list of one or more directory types; and

an attribute list of one or more attributes available for each directory type.

3. An extension to a directory service as recited in claim 2 wherein each directory type is a directory service distinguished name.

4. An extension to a directory service as recited in claim 1 wherein each shadow attribute includes a corresponding configuration server property and a configuration server location identifier.

5. An extension to a directory service as recited in claim 4 wherein each shadow attribute further includes a class name associated with the corresponding configuration server property.

6. An extension to a directory service as recited in claim 1 wherein the configuration server is a Java system database server containing configuration data for a plurality of clients and a plurality of network users.

7. An extension to a directory service as recited in claim 1 wherein each shadow attribute is proceeded by a marker indicating the attribute as a shadow attribute.

8. An extension to a directory service as recited in claim 4 wherein the configuration server location identifier is a series of nodes where each nodes represents a category of information.

9. An extension to a directory service as recited in claim 1 wherein the directory service is the Lighweight Directory Access Protocol.

10. An attribute format for a shadow attribute in a directory service capable of operating with a configuration database, the format comprising:

a configuration database property field for storing a property name used in the configuration database;

a configuration database location field for storing a location identifier used for traversing the configuration database; and

a marker associated with the shadow attribute to identify it as a shadow attribute.

11. An attribute format for a shadow attribute as recited in claim 10 further comprising a configuration database class name field for storing a class name associated with a value to be stored in the configuration database.

12. An attribute format for a shadow attribute as recited in claim 10 wherein the location identifier is a series of nodes in a hierarchical structure.

13. An attribute format for a shadow attribute as recited in claim 10 wherein the directory service is the Lighweight Directory Access Protocol and the configuration database is a Java system database.

14. A method of sending data from a network directory service to a configuration database, the method comprising:

retrieving one or more regular directory service entries and corresponding values from the network directory service to be transmitted to the configuration database;

determining a location and property name in the configuration database for each corresponding value by querying a shadow directory service entry in the network directory service; and

storing the corresponding values in the configuration database based on the location determined from the shadow directory service entry.

15. A method as recited in claim 14 further comprising determining a context in the network directory service from which to retrieve the one or more directory service entries and corresponding values.

16. A method as recited in claim 14 further comprising distinguishing each regular directory service entry from each shadow directory service entry.

17. A method as recited in claim 14 wherein the shadow directory service entry contains a path on the configuration database and a property name associated with the configuration database.

18. A method as recited in claim 17 wherein the shadow directory service entry further contains a class name.

19. A method of retrieving data from an LDAP server to a Java-based configuration server, the method comprising:

searching a location matching file for a match between a high-level path in a Java-based configuration server and a particular LDAP address;

searching a portion of the LDAP server for one or more attributes using the particular LDAP address to determine the portion of the LDAP server to searched;

retrieving one or more values corresponding to the one or more attributes; and

transmitting the one or more values to the Java-based configuration server such that the one or more values are made available to client computers in a Java operating system environment.

20. A method as recited in claim 19 wherein searching a location matching file further comprises accessing a network computer management tool containing the location matching file.

21. A method as recited in claim 19 wherein searching a portion of the LDAP server further comprises invoking an LDAP search function and passing an LDAP attribute as a parameter.

22. A method as recited in claim 19 wherein the location matching file includes a plurality of paths in the Java-based configuration server and a corresponding plurality of LDAP addresses.

23. A computer program product for retrieving data from an LDAP server to a Java-based configuration server, the computer program product comprising:

a computer code that searches a location matching file for a match between a high-level path in a Java-based configuration server and a particular LDAP address;

a computer code that searches a portion of the LDAP server for one or more attributes using the particular LDAP address to determine the portion of the LDAP server to searched; and

a computer code that retrieves one or more values corresponding to the one or more attributes;

a computer code that transmits the one or more values to the Java-based configuration server such that the one or more values are made available to client computers in a Java operating system environment; and

a computer-readable medium that stores the computer codes.

24. A computer program product for sending data from a network directory service to a configuration database, the computer program product comprising:

a computer code that retrieves one or more regular directory service entries and corresponding values from the network directory service to be transmitted to the configuration database;

a computer code that determines a location and a property name in the configuration database for each corresponding value by querying a shadow directory service entry in the network directory service;

a computer code that stores the corresponding values in the configuration database based on the location determined from the shadow directory service entry; and

a computer-readable medium that stores the computer codes.