Tivoli Directory Integrator IBM Software Group Tivoli Directory

Tivoli Directory Integrator IBM Software Group ® Tivoli Directory Integrator Null Behavior handling missing/unwanted attributes Eddie Hartman eddie. hartman@no. ibm. com 2006. 10. 14 using TDI 6. 1 FP 1

Tivoli Directory Integrator IBM Software Group Why use Null Behavior? Different systems handle null differently LDAP directory entries may have optional attributes RDBMS rows can have NULL column values Some protocols offer dynamic schemas e. g. HTTP: http. *, http. qs. *, . . . Placeholder values (e. g. “N/A”) that you want to ignore. . . and sometimes data is just missing Null Behavior is an Attribute Map feature Built-in functionality that alleviates need for custom script Defines what a “null” value is And what to do about it 2

Tivoli Directory Integrator IBM Software Group Null Behavior Can be set at several hierarchical levels: - Individual Attributes Null button in the details for an Attribute map - Attribute Map (for all Attributes specified) Null button at the top of any Input/Output Map or Att. Map component - Assembly. Line Null Behavior button in AL Config tab - Config Property values in a Property Store for a Config - Solution Directory (if soldir in use) Property values in Solution-Properties - TDI Server Property values in Global-Properties 3

Tivoli Directory Integrator IBM Software Group Null Behavior Properties Definition of Null: rsadmin. attribute. null. Definition Default Absent. Attribute Empty. String Value = use setting from level above = Attribute is missing = Attribute has no values = Attribute value is an empty string = Attribute value is as specified in the rsadmin. attribute. null. Definition. Value property which is case insensitive (e. g. abc = ABC = Ab. C) Handling for Null: rsadmin. attribute. null. Behavior Default Behavior Delete Null Empty String Error Value = use setting from level above = Do not map this Attribute (delete from map) = Return no value, but Attribute is present = Return an empty java. lang. String value = Throw an exception = Att value is as specified in the rsadmin. attribute. null. Behavior. Value property 4