RFC 1804 (rfc1804) - Page 3 of 10
Schema Publishing in X
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 1804 Schema Publishing in X.500 Directory June 1995
In this document we concentrate on the aspect of schema
access/retrieval from the directory. Since schema objects are defined
and employed, the modification , addition and deletion of schema
objects can be carried out using existing directory mechanisms. But
the operational issue of synchronizing the schema with the DIB will
require further attention. Similarly the issue of schema propagation
requires further work and is outside the scope of this document. The
strategy proposed in this document has a very simple and workable
approach. No added DAP/DSP functionality is envisaged. At the same
time by using the directory's distributed framework scalability
problems are avoided. In essence, it allows the distributed storage
of schema objects and proposes a naming scheme which allows
algorithmic schema retrieval. Of course, on the down side, more than
one directory read operation may be required to retrieve the
information about an object and its attributes, as objects and
attributes are stored as separate entries in the directory.
As schema information of all objects in a naming context are stored
below the root entry of that naming context, the same DSA will be
able to supply the schema information stored in that DSA. Thus there
is no need to contact another DSA for resolving the schema of an
object stored in the local DSA.
3. Storage of Schema Information in the Directory
The schema information may be stored and distributed using mechanisms
external to the X.500 directory standard [5]. This document proposes
storing schema information in the directory. It has the following
advantages:
o The components of the directory can access the schema
information using the standard directory protocols.
o The nature of the directory naturally allows the schema
to be distributed. Schema used locally can be kept in the
local DSA itself whereas schema for general objects like
person, organization etc can be made available to all
components of the directory by publishing it.
In the operational model, the schema information in the directory is
expected to complement the schema information held in central
repositories.
Mansfield, et al Experimental