Choosing which fields to aggregate in a directory catalog

By default, a directory catalog aggregates the fields from the documents that are supported for aggregation.

About this task

Table 1. Fields Aggregated by a Directory Catalog
Field aggregated by default	Documents that use the field
Type	All
FirstName	Person
MiddleInitial	Person
LastName	LastName
Location	Person
MailAddress	Person
Shortname	Person
MailDomain	Person, Group, Mail-In Database, Resource
InternetAddress	Person, Group, Mail-In Database, Resource
MessageStorage	Person, Mail-In Database
Members	Group
AltFullName	Person
AltFullNameLanguage	Person Note: This field is aggregated by default only in an extended directory catalog.
GroupType

Note: The FullName and ListName fields are always aggregated. These are required fields that ensure that each document aggregated in the directory catalog has a known name. The FullName field is used in Person, Mail-In Database, and Resource documents. The ListName field is used in Group documents.

Procedure

Use the Additional fields to include field in a directory catalog configuration document to aggregate additional fields into a directory catalog. To avoid making a mistake, useIBM® Domino® Designer to copy and paste the fields from forms in the IBM Domino Directory template. Be sure to copy the field itself, not the field label -- for example, copy the field OfficePhoneNumber, not the label Office phone.
If you use a directory catalog configuration option to exclude a particular type of document, that document isn't aggregated even if you specify a field from the document in the Additional fields to include field. For example, if you choose None next to the Group types option, the Dircat task does not aggregate group documents, even if the Members field is listed in the Additional fields to include field.
Follow these general guidelines when modifying the Additional fields to include configuration field:
1. Do not remove the fields aggregated by default because these field selections are the optimum ones for mail addressing.
2. In an extended directory catalog, aggregating all fields is recommended, since there is no way for servers to use directory assistance to look up missing information directly in the full Domino Directories themselves that are aggregated. To aggregate all fields from the aggregated documents, including custom documents added to a Domino Directory, leave the Additional fields to include field blank. If you don't aggregate all fields, then follow the guidelines described in the following table.
3. In a condensed directory catalog, aggregate as few fields as possible, to keep the directory catalog small. When possible, avoid aggregating fields that change frequently, because doing so requires Domino frequently to update entries in the directory catalog and replicate the changes to other replicas of the directory catalog.
4. If the LDAP service searches an extended directory catalog on a server, consider aggregating fields that are not part of the default configuration if LDAP clients frequently search for these fields.
5. If you use a subform to customize a Domino Directory template, you can add fields from the subform to the Additional fields to include field. If you are adding custom fields to a condensed directory catalog, first copy and paste the subform from the Domino Directory into the directory catalog database that the Dircat task runs against.

In addition to the general guidelines in steps 1 - 3, follow these specific guidelines in Table 2.

Table 2. Specific Guidelines for Modifying the Additional fields to include Field
Field to add	Condensed directory catalog used by clients	Extended directory catalog
Members field (from Group documents)	Add only to allow IBM Notes® users who are not connected to the network to look up free time schedules of other users. Note that adding the Members field is not generally recommended because it increases the directory catalog size and requires more replication. Use a server directory catalog or directory assistance to provide a way for servers to look up the members of groups from a secondary Domino Directory.	(Required) Allows Notes clients and servers to look up the members of groups from secondary Domino Directories.
AltFullName, AltFullNameLanguage (from Person documents)	Add if users in the directory catalog use alternate names in their certificates.	(Recommended) Include this field even if no certified alternate names are used in your organization; then if alternate certified names are put into use later, no directory catalog rebuild is necessary.
HTTPPassword (from Person documents)	Not recommended	Add to enable servers to look up Internet passwords in the directory catalog for Internet client authentication.
UserCertificate (from Person documents)	Not recommended	Add to enable servers to look up X.509 certificates in the directory catalog for Internet client authentication.