Novell EDIRECTORY 8.8 - GUIDE, Manual

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42 Novell eDirectory 8.8 Administration Guide
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1.4.1 Schema Management
The Schema role in Novell iManager lets users who have the Supervisor rights to a tree customize
the schema of that tree. The Schema role, and its associated tasks, is available on the Roles and Task
page in iManager.
Use the Schema role to
• View a list of all classes and attributes in the schema.
• View information on an attribute such as its syntax and flags.
• Extend the schema by adding a class or an attribute to the existing schema.
• Create a class by naming it and specifying attributes, flags, containers that it can be added to,
and parent classes that it can inherit attributes from.
• Create an attribute by naming it and specifying its syntax and flags.
• Add an optional attribute to an existing class.
• Delete a class or attribute that is not used or that is obsolete.
1.4.2 Schema Classes, Attributes, and Syntaxes
• “Classes” on page 42
• “Attributes” on page 43
• “Syntaxes” on page 43
Classes
A class is like a template for a directory object. A directory object is a class that has been filled in
with data. In other words:
CLASS + DATA = DIRECTORY OBJECT
Each class has a class name, an inheritance class (unless it is at the top of the class hierarchy), class
flags, and a group of attributes. Classes are named like directory objects (User, Printer, Queue,
Server, etc.), yet they are just structure, with no content.
An inheritance class is a class that is a starting point for defining other object classes. All of the
attributes of the inheritance class are inherited by the classes that come below it in the class
hierarchy.
A class hierarchy shows how a class is associated with its parent classes. This is a way of associating
similar classes and allowing attributes to be inherited. It also defines the types of containers the class
is valid in.
When creating a new class, you can use the class hierarchy and the additional attributes available to
customize each class. You can specify an inheritance class (which allows the new class to inherit all
of the attributes and flags of a class higher in the hierarchy) and then customize the new class by
selecting one or more attributes to add to those that were inherited. The additional attributes can be
selected as mandatory, naming, or optional attributes.
You can also modify existing classes by adding optional attributes.