The Domino® LDAP schema

How an LDAP object class relates to a Domino® form

An LDAP object class is similar to a form in the Domino® Directory, in that each defines a set of information for a directory entry. A Domino-specific object class -- whose name usually begins with domino -- always maps to a form in the Domino® Directory. For example, the object class dominoPerson maps to the form Person, and the object class dominoGroup maps to the form Group.

An object class that is not specific to Domino®, for example a standard LDAP object class defined in the LSCHEMA.LDIF file, maps to a form only if you create such a form. For example, the object class residentialPerson is part of the default Domino® LDAP schema, but it has no corresponding form in the Domino® Directory. Therefore by default you can use only LDAP operations to add, search, and modify residentialPerson entries. To give Notes® and Web users access to these entries, you must create a corresponding form following a specific procedure. If you create a corresponding form, residentialPerson entries are created as documents that are visible to Notes® and Web users.

For instructions on creating a form in the Domino® Directory that corresponds to an object class, see the topic Customizing the Domino® Directory in the related links.

Domino® forms that are not defined as object classes in the default Domino® LDAP schema

The following forms in the Domino® Directory are not defined as object classes in the schema because their designs do not include a field that defines a distinguished name:

• CrossCertificate
• Location
• Server\Configuration Settings
• Server\Connection
• Server\Holiday
• Server\Domain
• Server\User Setup Profile

How an LDAP attribute relates to a Domino® field

An LDAP attribute is similar to a field in the Domino® Directory in that each define a piece of information about a directory entry. An LDAP attribute defined for a Domino-specific object class always maps to a field in a form in the Domino® Directory. The name of the attribute and the name of the field may not be identical. This difference occurs when a preexisting field in Domino® has a purpose similar to an LDAP-standard attribute. For example, the LDAP attribute uid maps to the Domino® field ShortName.

By default, an attribute that is not Domino-specific does not map to a visible field in the Domino® Directory.

LDAP-standard attributes on Domino® forms

If a Domino® object class inherits from an LDAP-standard object class, the fields that represent the inherited attributes may be hidden in the Domino® Directory document. For example, the dominoPerson object class inherits the attribute employeeNumber from the LDAP-standard object class inetOrgPerson. However, the field employee number is only apparent when you select a Person document, choose Edit - Properties, and select the second tab in the Document properties box to see a listing of all the fields. You can add the field to the $PersonInheritableSchema subform to make the field visible.

How an LDAP syntax relates to a field type

There are some syntaxes in the default Domino® LDAP schema that map to Domino® field types. For example, the LDAP syntax Integer maps to the field type Number. To see whether a syntax maps to a Domino® field, find the document for the syntax in the Schema database (SCHEMA.NSF), and compare the LDAP name field to the Notes® mapping field.