Configure attribute flow rules

For this procedure, in Management Agent Designer, on the Configure Attribute Flow page, you can configure how attributes are flowed between a connected data source and the metaverse. Object attributes in the connected data source (that is, source attributes) can be flowed to existing object attributes in the metaverse (that is, destination attributes) and vice versa. You can choose a direct mapping, which performs simple import or export attribute flow, or an advanced attribute mapping, where you can flow specific components or values of an attribute. Or, you can specify a rules extension that manages attribute flow. To complete this procedure, you must be logged on as a member of the MIISAdmins security group.

This procedure applies to management agents for the following Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 editions:

To configure attribute flow rules

1. In Management Agent Designer, on the Configure attribute flow page, in Build Attribute Flow, in Data source object type, click a connected data source object type.
2. In Data source attribute, select the connected data source attribute that you want to map.
3. In Mapping Type, click one of the following:
4. • If you want to configure a simple attribute flow where the connected data source attribute is mapped to a metaverse attribute, click Direct (default). Data source attribute and Metaverse attribute must be of the same type.
   • If you want to configure an advanced attribute flow where a selected component of a distinguished name, to specify a constant value, or to specify a rules extension for attribute mapping click Advanced.
5. In Metaverse object type, click the metaverse object type.
6. In Metaverse attribute, click the metaverse attribute that you want to map.
7. In Flow Direction, do one of the following:
8. • To flow the data source attribute to the metaverse attribute, click Import.
   • To flow the metaverse attribute to the data source attribute, click Export.
   • If you want to allow null values from the metaverse source attribute to flow to a destination connected data source attribute during export attribute flow, select the Allow Nulls check box. By selecting this, Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 deletes a connected data source attribute value when all of the metaverse attributes that are configured for export attribute flow to that attribute contain no values.
9. Click New.
10. If you clicked Advanced mapping type in step 3, in Advanced Import/Export Attribute Flow Options, do one of the following:

11. Task	Steps
    To select a component of a distinguished name (for import attribute flow only)	Click Distinguished name, and then in Component, select the location number where the component exists in the distinguished name (also known as DN) string.
    To select a constant value	Click Constant, and then in Value, type a value to be flowed to the destination attribute. The value entered must be of the same type as the destination attribute.
    To specify a rules extension to manage mapping for this attribute	Click Rules extension, and then in Flow rule name, type the complete flow rule name.

Important

• If you make a change to an existing attribute flow mapping, you must click Edit to save the change prior to clicking OK.
• During synchronization, Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 might not apply attribute flow rules that you define on the Configure Attribute Flow page in Management Agent Designer or configure in a rules extension in order.
• When you configure advanced attribute flow that contains a Constant value, or a rules extension is configured with no source attribute, attribute flow is performed only during the first synchronization of an object and during subsequent Full Import and Full Synchronization and Full Synchronization runs.
• A Constant value flow to a reference destination attribute must be configured in a rules extension.
• When you configure export attribute flow for reference attributes (that is, attributes based on the distinguished name, such as manager and group membership) and Allow Nulls is not selected, referential integrity is not guaranteed. An attribute that references an object that is either deleted (or will be deleted in a subsequent run) will continue to reference the deleted object. To guarantee referential integrity, reference attributes should only be used as a destination attribute if you configure them in a direct mapping or rules extension flow rule mapping and Allow Nulls is selected.

Notes

• When configuring advanced attribute mapping type, you can specify all or part of a connected data source attribute that you want to map to a metaverse attribute with the following options:
• • When specifying a distinguished name part mapping, you must specify the component number of the distinguished name that you want to map. This component is typically a delimiter-separated value within the distinguished name. The number that determines the location is read from left to right, each delimited component being one number. For example, in the following distinguished name, CN=EmpID,CN=Name,CN=Employees,DC=Microsoft,DC=Com where EmpID is component number 1 (otherwise known as relative distinguished name), Name is component number 2, and so on. For an advanced attribute mapping that uses the distinguished name option with a component number of 1, only the EmpID value of the connected data source attribute is mapped to a metaverse attribute.
  • When specifying a rules extension for attribute mapping, you are provided with a default flow rule name. If necessary, you can specify a different flow rule name. This flow rule must be present in a rules extension. For more information about using rules extensions for import and export attribute flow, open the Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Developer Reference.
• When configuring advanced attribute mapping type, to select multiple attributes, click an attribute, press CTRL or SHIFT, and then click any additional attributes.

Related Topics

Configure attributes

Attribute flow rules

Using management agents