Chapter 14 -- Programming Exchange Server Using ADSI

Chapter 14

Messaging and communication technologies are necessary to build collaborative applications, but they are not the only technologies you need. Having a robust directory is a key requirement for almost any collaborative application, whether it be a simple messaging application or a full-blown workflow system. A directory not only holds communication information such as e-mail addresses and phone numbers, it holds organizational and hierarchical information, such as managers and direct reports. It also stores facility and personal information, such as building location, cost center, and pictures of users.

Being able to retrieve this range of information is important functionality for the application and beneficial to any organization. Recall our Collaboration Data Object (CDO) Helpdesk application in Chapter 11, which used a directory to obtain a user's personal information. In Chapter 12, the directory in the Event Scripting Expense Report application figured out the identity of the manager whose direct report submitted an expense report. Because Microsoft Exchange Server supports an extensible directory, you can add your own fields to the directory to store the type of custom information we've retrieved in the applications we've looked at so far.