Directory Mate  

     Exporting Object Attributes...

 


 

Exporting Basics

 

Exporting object attributes is quick and easy with Directory Mate.  When running the wizard, select Export and choose the object type.  Once you've selected the object type, select the attributes you'd like to export and file location to save the export file to.  Its as easy as that.

 

Exporting Date Attributes

 

The following time/date attributes may have the value "0" or "-1" in their field.  This means that there either is no valid value for that entry or that the attribute is not being used:

accountExpires, badPasswordTime, lastLogon, lastLogoff, lockoutTime, pwdLastSet

 

For example, if the export entry for "accountExpires" on a user is -1, it means that the users account never expires.

 

It is not possible at this time to import time/date attributes using Directory Mate.

 

Multi-valued Fields

 

Multiple values are exported by placing the character "%" between each value. 

 

For example, if you exported the group membership for the "Guest" user in the domain you would have the following value in the export file:

CN=Domain Guests,CN=Users,DC=MADS1,DC=com%CN=Guests,CN=Builtin,DC=MADS1,DC=com

The "%" character separates the values. 

 

Special Characters

 

Return characters are exported by placing the value "\r\n" in place of a return character. 

 

For example, if you were exporting the street address for a user that contained the following:

2302 Albert Street

Suite 21

 

The value would appear in the export file as: "2302 Albert Street\r\nSuite 21"
 

Export Conditions

 

Export conditions allow you to search through the directory for users that do not meet specific directory information conditions.  This allows you to ensure that all of the users in your directory meet the standards set for your directory.  Conditions include items such as an attribute value not being filled out or not matching a specific format. 

The types of conditions you can select include:

Condition: “the specified field data is empty”

This condition will check the specified field for an empty value.  After you select this condition, you will be prompted for the attribute you want checked for an empty value. 

Condition: “the specified field data does not contain a valid value” 

This condition will check the specified attribute value against a list that you provide.  Any users who do not have one of the required values will match the condition.  After you select this condition, you will first be prompted for the attribute that you want checked, and then you will be prompted to enter the values that are valid for the attribute.

Condition: “the specified field data has the wrong format”

This condition will check the specified field value to ensure that it matches the format that you provide.  This is useful for ensuring that users have entered valid values into their fields.   After you select this condition, you will be prompted for the field that you want checked, and then you will be prompted to enter the formatting that is valid for the field.

Formatting options consist of the following:

# is used for numbers
$ is used for strings (upper or lower case)
^ is used for upper case strings
* is used for lower case strings

When using these characters between two % signs, you can specify whether or not there should be a limited set of characters or an unlimited set. 

In addition to this, you can specify optional components using: &.  When using the &, the & must come immediately after the % at the beginning of the optional component and immediately before the % at the end of the optional component.  Example: %&Ext. %#%&%

Example:

If you use the %#% then it is determined that any number of numeric characters can appear provided they are consecutive.  If you use %2#% then it is determined that only 2 numeric characters can appear consecutively.

A real life example:

If you wanted the phone extension in a particular format, and your company has 4 digit phone extensions, you would use the formatting: %4#%.

In this case a user with the phone extension 0492 would have to enter the 0; otherwise it would fail the formatting requirements.

Another real life example:

If you want the phone number and phone extension all in the same field such that it would appear as: “(905) 286-4381 ext. 5132”, you would use the format: (%3#%) %3#%-%4#% ext. %4#%.  If some users don’t have an extension, you would leave the last part as optional so it would look like: (%3#%) %3#%-%4#% %&ext. %4#%&%.

One more real life example:

If you wanted street addresses and you’re unsure of the exact formatting, you may want to put in a number of options.

For example:

%#%, because you don’t know how many numbers are in the street address.
%$%, because you don’t know how many characters are in the street name.
%$%, because you don’t really know how many characters are in the remaining part of the address.
%&%$%&%, because there may be an additional word in the street name.
So altogether you have %#% %$% %$% %&%$%&%, which would allow the entry “5183 Marblewood Drive” to be valid. 

You could also get really picky and specify the case:
%#% 1^%%$% %1^%%$% %&%^%%$%&%.

In this case “5183 Marblewood Drive” is valid, but “5183 marblewood drive” is not. 

Remember:

Formatting options must be contained within the % sign.  Also keep in mind that the optional part requires a %& at the beginning and a &% at the end.

One final real life example:

If you want the Zip Code filed to contain five digits, you would use %5#%.
 

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Geisel Envisioning International Ltd.,
A Canadian corporation.