| Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Developer Reference |
When you import objects from a connected system to the metaverse, the imported objects might have attribute values of a data type that you need to 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.
Not all conversions between data types are supported. For example, you cannot convert a Reference data type into a Boolean 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) |
| String | Supported using Convert.ToBase64. | If true, -> "true"; if false, -> "false". | Supported | Supported | Not necessary |
The following example shows how to convert an integer attribute data type to a formatted string before it is imported into the metaverse:
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
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();
}
}