One thing I forgot to add to the list. I'd like to see the Java code re-licensed under the MPL, GPL, or LGPL. This is already a bug (https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=285347). What do we need to do to move forward with this?
Thanks, Brandon On Wed, 2005-09-14 at 22:00 -0400, Brandon Keepers wrote: > Mark, > > Thanks for your reply, I'm copying the list so others that are > interested can see your response. > > I'm relatively new to the LDAP game in the past couple years, so I'm > curious if someone can help me with some understand something. There is > an ietf package in the source. Is that an API that was created by the > ietf, or just something that was abstracted by the original Netscape > developers? > > On Wed, 2005-09-14 at 09:27 -0400, Mark Smith wrote: > > It is true there has not been a lot of development on the Mozilla Java > > LDAP SDK recently, but that that is probably because: > > > > 1) It is very stable and provides most functionality people need. > > That's good. I'm glad that it is not that people just aren't interested > in LDAP. > > > 2) The popular Mozilla products (e.g., Thunderbird) do not use Java for > > their LDAP features. > > That's understandable. I'm not familiar with all the history, so I'm > curious to know why Netscape developed an LDAP SDK in Java and why > Mozilla continued to maintain it. > > > It is hard to know how widely used the Mozilla Java LDAP SDK is, but I > > am fairly sure Sun and RedHat both depend on it for their Directory > > Server management GUIs. > > > > Of course contributions, energy, leadership, etc. are always welcome. > > That is good to know. I'd like to see open source tool support for LDAP > taken to the next level. > > > Do you have a list of enhancements you'd like to see made? > > I don't have a formal list at this point, but here are a few. > > 1) Replace OROMatcher with Jakarta ORO > The original OROMatcher that is required to build the SDK is no longer > available. However, Jakarta ORO (http://jakarta.apache.org/oro/) is the > successor to that and has a completely compatible API. I have gone > through and replaced the original OROMatcher and have not come across > any problems. I'll go ahead and submit a patch. > > 2) Clean up bit rot! > The whole SDK in general is showing signs of bit rot. Some of the code > uses what is now considered bad practices, and with modern IDEs, a lot > can be cleaned up. > > 3) Documentation > As someone mentioned, the documentation needs some help. I'd like to > see more added, along with examples, like Novell provides with their > LDAP classes > (http://developer.novell.com/ndk/doc/samplecode/jldap_sample/). > > 4) Ease of use > There are somethings that make using the SDK a pain in the butt. Here's > an example of some code that resembles something I've had to write: > > LDAPEntry entry = results.nextElement(); > if(entry != null) { > LDAPAttribute attr = entry.getAttribute("cn"); > if(attr != null) { > String val = attr.getStringValueArray()[0]; > } > } > > There's 7 lines of uncommented, as condensed as can be (and still be > readable) code, just to get the value of one attribute from an entry. > While Novell makes this 1 step easier by providing the > LDAPAttribute.getStringValue() method, which returns the first string > value, this is still unwieldy. I completely understand why everyone I > work with hates programming against LDAP. > > So, there's just a few things I like to see, and I'm more than willing > to make all of them happen. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't > investing time in something that was abandoned. > > > -Mark > > > > > > Brandon Keepers wrote: > > > I attempted to contact the Mozilla Directory mailing list, but received > > > no response. You are receiving this message either because you were a > > > committer to CVS or you are an assignee for a java related bug in > > > buzilla. > > > > > > I am looking for some information about the SDK for Java. There hasn't > > > been a lot of activity in the past few years and I was wondering what > > > the reason for that is. Are the SDKs considered to be "good enough," > > > are there better APIs/SDKs available, or is there not much interest in > > > LDAP? > > > > > > I have taken over the identity management responsibilities at a large > > > University and have been using the Mozilla Java SDK. I have an interest > > > in working on improving the SDK and improving open source LDAP tool > > > support. > > Thanks, > Brandon
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