What is Active Directory? What namespace should I use to use Active Directories?
Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) is a programmatic interface for the Microsoft Windows Active Directory. It enables your applications to interact with different directories on a network using a single interface.
Visual Studio .NET and the .NET Framework make it easy to add ADSI functionality with the
DirectoryEntry and
DirectorySearcher components. Using ADSI you can create applications that perform common administrative tasks, such as backing up databases, accessing printers and managing user accounts.
ADSI allows:
1) Log on once to work with diverse directories. The
DirectoryEntry component class provides username and password properties that can be entered at Runtime and are passed to the Active Directory object you are bound to.
2) Use of an Application-Programming Interface (API) to perform tasks on multiple directory systems. This includes multi protocol support. The
DirectoryServices namespace provides the classes to perform most administrative functions such as creating users.
3) Perform "Rich Querying" on directory systems. ADSI technology supports searching for objects with two query dialects: SQL and LDAP.
4) Access and use a single or hierarchical tree structure for administering and maintaining a diverse and complicated network.
5) Integrate directory information with databases such as
?sqlserver. The
DirectoryEntry path may be used as an ADO.NET connection string.
Name space to be imported when working with Active Directories:
System.DirectoryServices
Written by Sandeep Mogulla, Webmaster at
www.startvbdotnet.com
Index
