Adding an Extended Attribute to an Object

To add an extended attribute, you must define the attribute with an IDMAttributeConfiguration (unless the attribute is a built-in attribute).

IDMAttributeConfigurations require a name and syntax. The valid syntax options are BOOLEAN, DATE, INT, or STRING. Optionally, an IDMAttributeConfiguration can specify whether the attribute is multi-valued, and can provide a display name (currently not used), and a description.

To add an extended attribute, or mark an attribute (either extended or built-in) as queryable or summary, specify an IDMObjectClassAttributeConfiguration in the appropriate IDMObjectClassConfiguration, such as User. You must specify a name that matches an existing (built-in or configured in the same configuration object) IDMAttributeConfiguration. You can also mark the IDMObjectClassAttributeConfiguration as queryable or summary.

In the following example, firstname, lastname, and fullname are extended attributes. The firstname and lastname User attributes are queryable and summary, but fullname is not.

Example 10–1 Extended Attributes Example

<?xml version=’1.0’ encoding=’UTF-8’?> <!DOCTYPE Waveset PUBLIC ’waveset.dtd’ ’waveset.dtd’> 
<Waveset> 
<Configuration name="IDM Schema Configuration" id=’#ID#Configuration:IDM_Schema_Configuration’ 
authType=’IDMSchemaConfig’> 
<IDMSchemaConfiguration> 
<IDMAttributeConfigurations> 
... 
<IDMAttributeConfiguration name=’firstname’ description=’User’s first name’ syntax=’STRING’/> 
<IDMAttributeConfiguration name=’lastname’ description=’User’s last name’ syntax=’STRING’/> 
<IDMAttributeConfiguration name=’fullname’ description=’User’s full name’ syntax=’STRING’/> 
... 
</IDMAttributeConfigurations> 
<IDMObjectClassConfigurations> 
... 
<IDMObjectClassConfiguration name=’User’ extends=’Principal’> 
... 
<IDMObjectClassAttributeConfiguration name=’firstname’ queryable=’true’ summary=’true’/> 
<IDMObjectClassAttributeConfiguration name=’lastname’ queryable=’true’ summary=’true’/> 
<IDMObjectClassAttributeConfiguration name=’fullname’/> 
... 
</IDMObjectClassConfiguration> 
</IDMObjectClassConfigurations> 
</IDMSchemaConfiguration> 
</Configuration> 
</Waveset>

To prevent potential conflicts with new core attributes in future releases of Sun Identity Manager, prefix extended attributes with a deployment-specific prefix.

For example, to add an extended attribute to User to record the employeeNumber, prefer a prefix associated with the company, such as acme_employeeNumber. If a future release of Identity Manager incorporates a built-in user attribute named employeeNumber, the two attributes will remain distinct. Otherwise the built-in attribute takes precedence.