Today's
enterprise computing environments support an extensive array of users
and resources. Frequently, users require access to computing resources
from multiple operating environments across the distributed enterprise.
This need for access makes the administration and tracking of user
profiles and resource attributes difficult, if not completely unmanageable.
It is also difficult for applications to access data about resources
that are located on other systems.
Enterprise directory
services solves these problems by enabling you to collect information
that describes users, applications, file and print resources, access
control, and other resources into a common directory that is accessible
from all users and applications on the network. This directory, or
repository, can be administered in one place using one interface.
SAS Integration Technologies software provides application interfaces
that enable you to develop SAS programs using either the DATA step
or SAS Component Language (SCL) that use directory services. These
interfaces enable SAS distributed application components to share
a common application directory with components that execute in other
run-time environments across the distributed enterprise. This common
application directory eliminates the islands of information that can
be created when applications implement their own specialized repositories
to manage resource information.
Also, SAS Integration
Technologies uses directory services to host all of its product infrastructure
and run-time configuration information. This includes server and transport
bindings, publish/subscribe channel and subscriber profiles, package
archive repositories, and data source locators.
For Version 9 of Integration Technologies,
SAS provides the SAS Open Metadata Architecture. The SAS Open Metadata
Architecture provides a central repository for metadata for the entire
enterprise. For the SAS Metadata Server, SAS includes the SAS Management
Console, which enables you to administer the configuration information
using a graphical user interface. Because the information is centrally
managed, any additions or changes that you make to the information
in the directory are immediately available to all users and directory-enabled
applications. For example, instead of changing an access control list
for a resource on each system that accesses it, you change the information
only once. Each application can use this information to control access
to the resource.
Another type of
directory service is the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).
Using this access protocol, applications can search, retrieve, add,
delete, and modify objects in an enterprise directory from anywhere
within the distributed environment.
This document provides
information about how to incorporate the LDAP directory services functions
into your SAS programs.