Customizing the Active Directory Update application

This page refers to an older version of Directory Update - Please download the documentation for the latest version.

The intention of the Directory Update application is to be generic enough for any organization to use while allowing the administrator the maximum degree of customization. The main screen along with the components are shown in here.

APPSETTING.XML File

**Before making any changes to the default APPSETTING.XML file, make a backup copy.

Style Sheet

The STYLE.CSS file can be found in the C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\DirectoryUpdate\styles folder. In this file you can customize the colors and fonts.

Directory Update Banner

The Directory Update logo is a GIF (directory_update_logo.gif) file that is in the C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\DirectoryUpdate\images folder. It is 350 pixels wide by 60 pixels high. You can replace this file or specify an alternate one in the APPSETTINGS.XML file. The default setting tag for the image location is:

<logoPath>images/directory_update_logo.gif</logoPath>

Page Title

The page title is the title that is found on the top of the web browser window. The page title is found in the APPSETTINGS.XML file and is changed by locating the <pagetitle> tag. The default page title tag is:

<pageTitle>Directory Update</pageTitle>

Form Title

The form title is found under the Directory Update Banner. You can customize this in the APPSETTINGS.XML file. This can be changed by locating the <formtitle> tag.

<formTitle>User Information Update</formTitle>

Help Desk Note

The Help Desk Note field is a short note that is found directly below the fields that cannot be edited by the user. The default is simply a note indicating that some fields cannot be changed by the user. This should be customized for your organization. To change this, locate the <helpMessage> tag in the APPSETTINGS.XML file.

<helpMessage>Please contact the help desk at 555-1234 to modify uneditable fields.</helpMessage>

Attribute Labels

Attribute labels can be updated to suit your organization. The attribute labels are the same ones that are used in Active Directory, but they can be customized in the APPSETTINGS.XML file. Locate the section of the XML file for the attribute you are interested in changing. All field labels and application validation information is found within the <inputFields> section of the XML file.

For example, if you want to change the Title field label from “Title” to “Position”, locate the following line:

<title label="Title" editable="false" />

Change the label="Title" to label="Position; the resulting line would look like this:

<title label="Position" editable="false" />

Disabled Fields

By default, all of the fields on the Directory Update page are editable by the user. In some organizations this may not be desirable. The administrator can edit the APPSETTINGS.XML file and disable certain attributes so the user can view them, but not edit them. For any given attribute, you can change the editable option by locating the XML tag for the specific attribute you are concerned with and changing the “editable” option from “true” to “false”.

For example, the Office attribute can be changed from editable to not being editable by locating the <office> tag and changing editable=”true” to editable=”false”. Below is an example when the Office attribute is editable:

<office label="Office" editable="true">

An here is an example when the Office attribute has been set so that it cannot be edited.

<office label="Office" editable="false">

Customizable Help Page

The HELP.ASPX file found in the C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\DirectoryUpdate folder contains customizable help information.

Validated Drop-Down Lists

One problem with allowing users the ability enter data in to an attribute field is that you will get many different combinations and spellings of data that you may want to keep consistent. For example, in the State field, you may want the state name spelled out and an initial capital letters used, such as California. The Directory Update page allows the administrator to customize the data that is found in the following drop-down lists:

• Department • Office • Company • City • State • Country

Each validated field is another entry found in the APPSETTING.XML file. These are all found in the <inputfields> section of the XML file. For example, to edit the possible values that are listed in the Department drop-down list, locate the <department> tag. The following are values from the default file.

<department label="Department" editable="true">
    <value>Accounting</value>
    <value>Development</value>
    <value>Engineering</value>
    <value>Human Resources</value>
    <value>Sales and Marketing</value>
</department>

Add a new line for each department you want to appear in the drop down list. The value must start with the <value> tag and must be closed with the </value> tag.