It has only been just over a month since we released Symlabs Free LDAP Browser, and already we're closing in on a thousand downloads of the software. The enthusiastic reception must indicate that we've done something right, and also makes this seem like a good time to take a closer look at what the browser has to offer plus why it's the perfect application to use in conjunction with Symlabs Virtual Directory Server and Symlabs LDAP Proxy, as well as a range of other LDAP directory products.
To quickly review, Symlabs LDAP Browser is a java application that can run on practically any OS that supports a Java Runtime Environment. It has many great built-in features
like full TLS/SSL support, stored searches & bookmarks, LDIF exports, RootDSE & schema viewing, and two simplified editing interfaces for managing directory entries. It can even open multiple connections at once and switch between them using an intuitive tabbed interface, which is extremely useful when working with virtual directories since you'll most likely want to see the difference between views on your backend and the view that you are generating through the proxy engine.
One of the most common integration problems that virtual directories are typically called upon to resolve involves distributed or fragmented identity data. And, one feature that's unique to Symlabs LDAP Browser is proving to be particularly handy for virtual directory administrators who deal with this. They frequently find user data stored across multiple backend repositories, and, if they're lucky, these are repositories of the same type. If they're not so lucky, the various different repositories at least support the same protocol. But, if they're downright jinxed, they'll find themselves trying to consolidate data stored in several types of LDAP directories along with records stored in various relational databases.
Virtual directories offer a wealth of useful facilities to help resolve these problems, but quite often they do so by violating the schema. That's not to say schema violations are always a problem. Some applications are schema-agnostic and will just work with the attributes and LDAP objectClasses that they expect. Indeed some virtual directory products do offer the flexibility to smooth over problems caused by schema violation, and there are ways to trick an application into believing that the schema actually conforms (at least, we know it's possible with Symlabs LDAP Proxy and Symlabs Virtual Directory Server). Still, not every solution is going to call for such drastic measures. However, if you choose not to resolve schema violations, you may struggle to find a LDAP browser that can work properly in your environment.
Symlabs LDAP Browser has a very clever feature that addresses this issue. Imagine an ugly situation in which some data for your users is stored within a relational database and, at the same time, you have an LDAP directory that stores entries for the same users. You have an application that needs to access both sets of data as if it were stored in a single LDAP directory entry. The obvious solution is to implement a virtual directory that maps data from the tables in the database onto branches within the virtual directory tree. Using some join functionality, you merge the data from each record with the data for each entry based on a common field or attribute. Now you have a problem ... the directory will still report the schema that it supports, but you also have a bunch of 'virtual attributes' that represent data in the database, and these attributes are not reported by the schema.
While your target application may be okay with this and your LDAP browser may get as far as displaying the values for these attributes, its very unlikely that the browser will let you modify entries that do not conform to the schema. Unless, of course, you're using Symlabs LDAP Browser. It is similar in that it really is schema strict - the difference is it also supports the novel idea of a 'virtual schema'.
Symlabs LDAP Browser will download a copy of the schema into memory, then allow you to modify the schema entries that it has stored for the connection. You can add new objectClasses or attributes to the schema, remove conflicting classes or attributes, and modify existing schema entries. Although this has no effect on the backend server, it means that if the data presented by your virtual directory solution does not conform to an existing schema, you will still be able to work with that data within the browser. This is because the virtual schema approach allows you to trick Symlabs LDAP Browser into believing that the data actually does conform. Best of all, you can store the virtual schema modifications that you make for any connection so when you open the same connection again, the browser will download the schema as usual and then apply the modifications you previously made.
You can easily perform virtual schema modifications
that accommodate your virtual directory solution
And, when adding a new virtual attribute, you can
fully define it as if it were a genuine schema entry
Of course, this functionality will only work where a solution is designed to support it. In other words, this isn't a quick and easy way to modify the schema on your server so other applications will work with your data. It's only a convenient trick to get the browser itself to work with non-conforming data, but it's a trick that the virtual directory enthusiasts out there are very glad to see. We specialize in virtual directory solutions, and in our many years of experience we hadn't come across a browser that was effective at handling this type of problem. So, we put this little innovation into our Symlabs Free LDAP Browser and we're pleased that it's so popular.
If you're looking for something that can handle your actual schema modification requirements without affecting your existing repository, then you should look to Symlabs Virtual Directory Server or Symlabs LDAP Proxy, particularly given many of the recent improvements that we've made. If, on the other hand, you just need a browser that can work with your virtual directory solution, regardless of how schema-compliant its data presentation is, then download Symlabs LDAP Browser for yourself and use it with our compliments - its free.
Rowan Puttergill
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 06:52PM 
