Using Directory Services Properties in Visio 2002

Published: September 1, 2001

By Julie Byrd

Microsoft Corporation

Applies to
Microsoft Visio Enterprise Network Tools 2002

The Microsoft Visio Directory Services solutions (Active Directory, Novell Directory Services, and LDAP Directory) allow you to document and diagram existing directory structures and design new ones. You can use the diagrams for training, support, and disaster recovery, and adapting directories to business and technical changes, such as implementing new software that requires changes to the directory, department reorganizations, or acquisitions.

This article explains how to use directory service properties when documenting directory structures.

On This Page

What are Directory Services Properties?
Importing Directories and Properties
Modifying Properties

What are Directory Services Properties?

Properties are attributes that define a class, and provide the foundation for the objects in directory service diagrams and the Directory Navigator. Properties can include detailed information about user addresses, locations, account information, expiration dates, and so on.

Properties vary according to the directory service schema, so the properties applicable to one directory service may not be the same in another. You can add and edit custom properties to define a class.

There are three types of properties:

• Mandatory Properties cannot be deleted after they are added to a class. If the class exists as an object and has mandatory properties, those properties cannot contain null values, but may contain multiple values.

  Objects are views of classes that have specific values assigned to their properties. When a class is added to the directory diagram it becomes an object.

  For example, if the User object has Telephone Number as a mandatory property, and Telephone Number has been indicated as allowing multiple values, you must enter, but are not limited to, at least one telephone number for its value.

• Optional Properties, like mandatory properties, cannot be deleted after they are added to a class. However, optional properties may contain null values. For example, if the User object has Telephone Number indicated as an optional property, a phone number is not required as a value.

• Extended Properties are user-defined properties for objects. Extended properties cannot be added directly to a class, but can be added to a class once you drag the object to the [Sub Tree] level or drag it to the directory diagram. An extended property that you add to one object is not added to all objects of the same class. You can add or delete extended properties as needed.

Importing Directories and Properties

You might want to view the structure of a directory without viewing the detailed properties of each object in it. With Visio 2002, you can decide whether to import the properties for each object. To import the properties, select Import all properties now in the Connect to Directory dialog box that displays when you open any of the Directory Services templates (Active Directory, Novell Directory Services, LDAP Directory).

Figure 1: Connect to Directory dialog box

The number of objects in the directory affects how long an import with or without properties will take. It takes longer to import the directory with properties.

If you decide not to import properties when you import objects, you can retrieve the property information for an object later, as long as you still have a connection to the source directory, and the object hasn't been deleted, moved, or renamed from where it was imported. The directory hierarchy and object location must remain the same.

To view properties for an object that was imported without its properties, simply right-click the object and click Edit Properties. The Edit Properties dialog box shows the current properties for the selected object. The properties are stored in the ShapeSheet for that object as if they had been imported originally.

Figure 2: Edit Properties dialog box

Modifying Properties

You can also edit and modify properties to customize an object. You can add custom values to the properties, as needed. For example, if an object has a current property whose value is Country/Region, you can modify that property to be a more descriptive value, such as United States. You can simply type over the original entry name with the new name.

Custom and modified values entered for a property are not validated when exporting to LDIF file format. When entering custom property values for an object, make sure those values are valid.