Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directories are widely used to store personnel information and other kinds of data. ATG’s LDAP profile repository is an implementation of the Repository API that enables you to store and access profile data in an LDAP directory. The LDAP repository is similar in functionality to the SQL profile repository, as described in the Setting Up a Profile Repository chapter. While by default the Personalization module is configured to use a SQL profile repository, you can change the configuration to use an LDAP repository instead. Using an LDAP repository enables you to tap into the profile data you already have in an LDAP directory, and to share user information across multiple applications.

Just like the SQL profile repository, the LDAP repository implements the ATG repository API to allow you to store, access, modify, and query user profile information. As in the SQL profile repository, repository items are first created as transient items (RAM profiles); they become persistent after they are added to the database. For complete information about LDAP repository concepts, architecture, and code, see the LDAP Repositories chapter in the ATG Repository Guide.

It is important to note, however, that the LDAP repository implementation is not specific to user profiles in any way. Since an LDAP directory can be used to store any kind of data (people, groups, mailing lists, documents, printers, etc.), you could use the LDAP repository to expose any of that data in an ATG application. For more information, refer to the LDAP Repositories chapter in the ATG Repository Guide.

Scenarios module and LDAP Repositories: You cannot use scenarios with an LDAP profile repository, because the LDAP repository is not currently powerful enough to express all the data relationships required by the Scenarios module. If you want to run scenarios, you must use either a SQL repository or a composite repository to store all profile information.

This chapter includes the following sections: