LDAPContactsPackage

An LDAP Compatible ContactsPackage

Created by: Stephan Borg, Last modification: 15 Jul 2005 (15:02 UTC)

Resources

This is an interesting interview that talks about LDAP vs XML, and the use of XML for CMS systems
These talk about using XML with LDAP

Definitions

None as yet

Feasibility Study

I have the requirement for an LDAP compatible Contacts address book. I've provided an overview of LDAPCompatibility here.

Analysis and Specifications v1.0

The initial design will be based upon LibertyForms - SDLC and will act as an add-on to provide the following.

Requirements for v1.0 are:
  • Data field compatibility with LDAP ie single contact can have unlimited multiple occurance of attributes - wolff_borg
    • Optional auto-update to/from LDAP server (synchronised LibertyContent storage) - wolff_borg
    • Optional direct LDAP communications (minimal LibertyContent storage) - wolff_borg
    • If feasible, sub-class LibertyStorage to allow LDAP as a minimal storage mechanism - wolff_borg
  • Provide plugins for LibertyContent to access Contact records - wolff_borg

Design, Documentation and Quality Assurance

TODO

Data Model

Not a very good diagram, but a start in understanding how this all fits together:{CODE()} UI Form -> LibertyContent (data/type array) -> LDAP server (LDIF - optional component){CODE}

LDIF - LDAP Data Interchange Format

Data coming from an LDAP server would look something like this:{CODE()}dn: cn=Stephan Borg,ou=people,o=bitweaver
cn: Stephan Borg
givenName: Stephan
sn: Borg
mobile: 1234 567 890
uid: wolff_borg
o: Bitweaver
mail: me@home.com
mail: me@home2.com
calFBURL: http://bitweaver.org/fb/wolff_borg.ifb
objectClass: top
objectClass: inetOrgPerson
objectClass: person
objectClass: organizationalPerson
objectClass: calEntry{CODE}

LibertContent

Once imported into the class, the data would be stored in an array. I have tried to keep the format inline with the array format used by the LDAP PHP commands.{CODE()}array(
"cn" => "Stephan Borg",
"givenName" => "Stephan",
"sn" => "Borg",
"mobile" => "1234 567 890",
"uid" => "wolff_borg",
"o" => "Bitweaver",
"mail" => array(
"me@home.com",
"me@home2.com"
),
"calFBURL" => "http://bitweaver.org/fb/wolff_borg.ifb",
);{CODE}

Development

TODO

Systems Implementation

TODO

Systems Maintenance

Package Maintainer Team

See Package Maintainer Teams for details and requirements of each of the roles.
  • Steering Committee
    • wolff_borg
  • Key Users (Creation of user acceptance procedures)
    • wolff_borg
  • Training (User documentation and tutorials)
    • volunteers?
  • Quality Assurance (Ensure package functionality from the lowest API levels using TestingSuites)
    • wolff_borg
  • Developers (Try and keep the data and presentation code segregated(:eek:))
    • wolff_borg
    • StarRider (Forms & Plugins)
  • Support (Upgrade/migration paths and support)
    • wolff_borg

Comments

LDAP is great, -but why not add vcf to the mix?

by Helge Karl, 08 Jul 2005 (07:07 UTC)
Even though LDAP works very nice, especially in my email program, I prefer to store contact information in vCard files (vcf). It is easy than to sync it to iPod, send as email attachments and for other purposes.

I've found this pearl script on the web that might to do the job of creating vcf files or give an idea (at least) of how it can be done:
http://andrew.triumf.ca/pub/ldap2-vcf.pl.

There is an interesting thread about many aspects of vcf and ldap integration here: http://macslash.org/article.pl?sid=04/01/13/0857230. In bitweaver it would be nice to have a vcf.file to download for contacts, just like you can download web pages as pdf files. Or what do you think?
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