When you import objects from a connected system to the FIM Synchronization Service database (metaverse), the imported objects might have attribute values that are of a data type that you must convert to a different data type to be compatible with other objects in the metaverse. You can use a rules extension to convert the type of the attribute when it is imported into the metaverse.

Supported Conversions

Not all conversions between data types are supported. For example, you cannot convert an AttributeType data type into an AttributeType data type. The following table shows the supported conversions, where -> means "is converted to".

  Original attribute type (Attrib.DataType property)

Convert to:

Binary

Boolean

Integer

Reference

String

Binary

Not necessary

If true, -> 1; if false, -> 0.

Supported

Not supported

Supported using Convert.FromBase64.

Boolean

If all bytes 0, -> false; else -> true.

Not necessary

If 0, -> false; else -> true.

Not supported

If "true" or "1", -> true; if "false" or "0", -> false; else not supported.

Integer

Throws exception if > 64 bits.

If true, -> 1; if false, -> 0.

Not necessary

Not supported

Supported using Integer.Parse().

Reference

Not supported

Not supported

Not supported

Not necessary

Supported using

CreateDN

String

Supported using Convert.ToBase64.

If true, -> "true"; if false, -> "false".

Supported

Supported

Not necessary

The following examples show how to convert an integer attribute data type to a formatted string before it is imported into the metaverse.

Visual Basic  Copy Code 
Public Sub MapAttributesForImport( _
	ByVal FlowRuleName As String, _
	ByVal csentry As CSEntry, _
	ByVal mventry As MVEntry) _
	Implements IMASynchronization.MapAttributesForImport

	Select Case FlowRuleName
		Case "employeeStart"

			' employeeStart is an integer representing a date and time.
			' The format is YYYYMMDDHHmmSS, where YYYY is the year,
			' MM is the month, DD is the day, HH is the hour, mm is
			' the minute, and SS is the seconds.
			If (Not csentry("employeeStart").DataType = AttributeType.Integer) Then
				throw new MetadirectoryServicesException("employeeStart must be an integer")
			End If

			Dim startString, year, month, day, hour, min, sec As String

			' Value always returns a string.
			startString = csentry("employeeStart").Value

			year  = startString.Substring( 0, 4)
			month = startString.Substring( 4, 2)
			day   = startString.Substring( 6, 2)
			hour  = startString.Substring( 8, 2)
			min   = startString.Substring(10, 2)
			sec   = startString.Substring(12, 2)

			Dim dt as DateTime

			dt = Convert.ToDateTime(month + "/" + _
				day   + "/" + _
				year  + " " + _
				hour  + ":" + _
				min   + ":" + _
				sec)

			' Renders 20030903113029 as
			' 9/3/2003 11:30 AM
			mventry("employeeStart").Value = dt.ToShortDateString() + dt.ToShortTimeString()

		Case Else
			Throw New EntryPointNotImplementedException()
	End Select
End Sub
C#  Copy Code 
void IMASynchronization.MapAttributesForImport (string FlowRuleName, 
	CSEntry csentry, 
	MVEntry mventry)
{
	switch(FlowRuleName)
	{
		case "employeeStart":

			// employeeStart is an integer representing a date and time.
			// The format is YYYYMMDDHHmmSS, where YYYY is the year,
			// MM is the month, DD is the day, HH is the hour, mm is
			// the minute, and SS is the seconds.
			if(csentry["employeeStart"].DataType != AttributeType.Integer)
			{
				throw new MetadirectoryServicesException("employeeStart must be an integer");
		}

			// Value always returns a string.
			string startString = csentry["employeeStart"].Value;

			string year  = startString.Substring( 0, 4);
			string month = startString.Substring( 4, 2);
			string day   = startString.Substring( 6, 2);
			string hour  = startString.Substring( 8, 2);
			string min   = startString.Substring(10, 2);
			string sec   = startString.Substring(12, 2);

			DateTime dt = Convert.ToDateTime(month + "/" + 
			 day   + "/" + 
			 year  + " " + 
			 hour  + ":" + 
			 min   + ":" +
			 sec);

			// Renders 20030903113029 as
			// 9/3/2003 11:30 AM
			mventry["employeeStart"].Value = dt.ToShortDateString() + dt.ToShortTimeString();
		
			break;
		default:
			throw new EntryPointNotImplementedException();
}
}

See Also