US 7,016,907 B2 · Enumerated roles in a directory system

Abstract

Role is a comprehensive grouping mechanism used in a directory server. In a client-server directory system, roles transfer some of the complexity to the directory server. A role is defined by its role definition entry. Assigning entries to roles enables applications to locate the roles of a target entry, rather than select a group and browse the members list. By changing a role definition, a user can change an entire organization with ease. Any client with appropriate access privileges can discover, identify and examine any role definition. An enumerated role is one that contains a list of target entries as members. By simply searching for the membership of the enumerated role, a client application will obtain a list of all members that possess that enumerated role.

Claims6

Dependent claims

A method of grouping entries in a directory server, said directory server comprising roles, the method comprising:

defining a plurality of entries in the directory server, wherein at least one the plurality of entries are associated with an enumerated role;
defining an enumerated role entry corresponding to the enumerated role, wherein the enumerated role entry comprises a plurality of group member attributes and the at least one of the plurality of entries is associated with at least one of the plurality of group member attributes;
determining which of the plurality of entries possess the enumerated role by querying the plurality of group member attributes in the enumerated role entry;
and
providing the plurality of entries that possess the enumerated role to a client,
wherein the at least one of the plurality of entries comprising the enumerated role is within a scope of the enumerated role entry.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Enumerated roles in a directory system

Life of this patent

Enumerated roles in a directory system

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims6