Recipe 10.17 Finding the Structural, Auxiliary, Abstract, and 88 Classes

10.17.1 Problem

You want to list the structural, auxiliary, abstract, and 88 classes.

10.17.2 Solution

10.17.2.1 Using a graphical user interface

1. Open the Active Directory Schema snap-in.

2. In the left pane, click on the Classes folder.

3. In the right pane, the list of all the classes will be displayed. The Type column contains the type of class. Even though you can click on the column header, it currently does not sort the classes by type.

10.17.2.2 Using a command-line interface

> dsquery * cn=schema,cn=configuration,<ForestRootDN> -limit 0 -scope onelevel[RETURN] -filter "(objectcategory=classSchema)" -attr lDAPDisplayName objectclasscategory

10.17.2.3 Using VBScript

' This code prints out classes of a particular type ' ------ SCRIPT CONFIGURATION ------ ' Set the following to TRUE or FALSE depending if you want to  ' view or not view classes of the type defined by the variable boolShowStructural = TRUE  boolShowAuxiliary  = TRUE boolShowAbstract   = TRUE  boolShow88         = TRUE  ' ------ END CONFIGURATION --------- set objRootDSE = GetObject("LDAP://RootDSE") set objSchemaCont = GetObject("LDAP://cn=schema," & _                               objRootDSE.Get("configurationNamingContext")) objSchemaCont.Filter = Array("classSchema") WScript.Echo "Loading classes, this will take a few seconds." for each objClass in objSchemaCont    WScript.StdOut.Write(".")    if objClass.Get("objectClassCategory") = 0 then       str88 = str88 & vbTab & objClass.Get("lDAPDisplayName") & vbCrlf    elseif objClass.Get("objectClassCategory") = 1 then       strStruct = strStruct & vbTab & _                   objClass.Get("lDAPDisplayName") & vbCrlf    elseif objClass.Get("objectClassCategory") = 2 then        strAbst = strAbst & vbTab & objClass.Get("lDAPDisplayName") & vbCrlf    elseif objClass.Get("objectClassCategory") = 3 then       strAux = strAux & vbTab & objClass.Get("lDAPDisplayName") & vbCrlf    else       WScript.Echo "Unknown class type: " & _                    objClass.Get("lDAPDisplayName") & vbCrlf    end if next WScript.Echo vbCrlf if boolShowStructural = TRUE then    WScript.Echo "Structural Classes: "    WScript.Echo strStruct    WScript.Echo end if if boolShowAbstract = TRUE then    WScript.Echo "Abstract Classes: "    WScript.Echo strAbst    WScript.Echo end if if boolShowAuxiliary = TRUE then    WScript.Echo "Auxiliary Classes: "    WScript.Echo strAux    WScript.Echo end if if boolShow88 = TRUE then    WScript.Echo "88 Classes: "    WScript.Echo str88    WScript.Echo end if

10.17.3 Discussion

There are four supported class types in the Active Directory schema. The class type is defined by the objectClassCategory attribute on classSchema objects. Each class type is used for a different purpose relating to organizing and inheriting classes. Table 10-6 describes each type.

Table 10-6. Object class category values

Name	Value	Description
88	0	Legacy class type defined by the original X.500 standards. It should not be used for new classes.
Structural	1	Used for instantiating objects. Can be comprised of abstract, auxiliary, and other structural classes.
Abstract	2	Used to define a high-level grouping of attributes that can be used as part of other abstract or structural class definitions. Objects cannot be instantiated using an abstract class.
Auxiliary	3	Used as a collection of attributes that can be applied to other abstract, auxiliary, or structural classes.