> > Hi, all. I'm just starting out with LDAP, so before I even start with > > the technical details of my project (which is to make an address-book > > system suitable for use with Mozilla Thunderbird and (if possible) > > Outlook and Outlook Express, I'm trying to figure out just how to > > organize my data. > This reply is a bit general since I don't know either Thunderbird or > Outlook except from some brief tests. But anyway...
I've done a presentation on LDAP and the various mail clients. http://www.whitemiceconsulting.com/system/files?file=LDAP105.sxi > Read up on LDAP first, if you haven't already. This sounds complicated > enough that you ought to understand well what you are doing. It is more than complicated, it is a nightmare; the clients are all over the map. > On the other hand, Active Directory is a sort-of LDAP server and more, > which doesn't quite follow the LDAP standard and can give non-Microsoft > clients like Thunderbird trouble. While LDAP may be the obvious technology to solve the 'White pages' issue; the state of application support and utter lack of standards immensely diminishes the value of an 'LDAP solution'. But there is a standard for contacts and contact information: vCard If you want a solution to this problem I think a proper groupware server is the real solution: M$-Exchange, Open Exchange, OpenGroupware, etc... > You could define several new attributes - workMail, homeMail, etc and > stuff them into a single entry. But then you are limited to clients > where you can configure which attributes they'll take the mail address > from. Don't know if Thunderbird can, but my impression is that mail > clients do not tend to have a very configurable LDAP setup. Nope. > > But if I do that, how can I avoid having to duplicate all the OTHER > > data about John Doe (address, city, state, etc.) that I want to keep > > in a single record? Can I define a "family" record that has the whole > > Doe family's info, then a separate "stub" record that has only their > > e-mail addresses, which can somehow be tied back to the Doe family's > > main record? > You can make an LDAP tree (each 'dn:' line starts a new entry): Which no existing client will support. You end up creating an entire application; for a problem for which solutions already exist. --- You are currently subscribed to [email protected] as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE as the SUBJECT of the message.
