INTERNET-DRAFT Hallvard B. Furuseth
Intended Category: Informational University of Oslo
Expires: July 2006 Alexey Melnikov
Isode Limited
January 2006
Structural object class 'untypedObject' for LDAP/X.500
<draft-furuseth-ldap-untypedobject-01.txt>
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Abstract
This document defines an 'untypedObject' structural object class for
the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and X.500. This is
useful for entries with no 'natural' choice of structural object
class, e.g. if an entry must exist even though its contents are
uninteresting.
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1. Introduction
An entry in a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) [RFC3377]
or [X.500] directory must have a structural object class, such as
'person' or 'country'. However, an entry may lack a 'natural' choice
of structural object class. For example, the desired structure of a
directory tree might require an entry to exist for grouping purposes
even though it describes no real-world object. This document defines
an 'untypedObject' structural object class for this use.
As 'untypedObject' structural object class doesn't have any mandatory
attributes, it can also be used in combination with arbitrary
auxiliary object classes. For example, the posixGroup object class
[LDAP-NIS] is an auxiliary object class that may be used to overlay
POSIX group identification on an existing group of distinguished
names. In this case, it is suggested that the groupOfUniqueNames
object class be used as a structural object class. However, this may
sometimes be inappropriate: that groupOfUnique- Names requires at
least one member may make it impossible to migrate existing group
information. [LDAP-NIS] could define a specific struc- tural object
class for this case (say, structuralPosixGroup), but this would
unnecessarily add to the proliferation of redundant schema.
2. Object class definition
untypedObject is defined as follows. The definition uses the BNF
form of ObjectClassDescription from [RFC2252], but with lines folded
for readability.
( IANA-ASSIGNED-OID NAME 'untypedObject'
DESC 'Entry of no particular type [RFC XXXX]'
SUP top STRUCTURAL
MAY ( c $ cn $ dc $ l $ o $ ou $ st $ street $ uid $
description $ owner $ seeAlso ) )
The attribute types are defined in [RFC2256], except for 'dc' in
[RFC2247] and 'uid' in [RFC2798].
The name of an entry with this object class will normally be a cn,
but attributes c through uid are allowed as well in case the entry
name relates to the name of something else. Of these, only the one
used for naming is intended to be used in the entry. Use of the
others may be an indication that the entry should have a more
descriptive object class instead of or in addition to this one.
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3. Example
In a directory with entries named as follows, the entries with RDNs
cn=people etc. can use untypedObject:
uid=john,cn=people,dc=example,dc=com
uid=john,cn=users,cn=system,dc=example,dc=com
cn=www,cn=filegroups,cn=system,dc=example,dc=com
4. Security Considerations
This document raises no known security issues.
5. IANA Considerations
It is requested that the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)
register the following upon Expert Review:
Subject: Request for LDAP OID Registration
Person & email address to contact for further information:
Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@usit.uio.no>
Specification: RFC XXXX
Author/Change Controller: IESG
Comments:
OID of structural object class 'untypedObject'. It should be
below 1.3.6.1.1, according to BCP 64 (RFC 3383) section 3.1.
[Editor: I don't know if last sentence is necessary.]
Subject: Request for LDAP Descriptor Registration
Descriptor (short name): untypedObject
Object Identifier: IANA-ASSIGNED-OID
Person & email address to contact for further information:
Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@usit.uio.no>
Usage: Object class
Specification: RFC XXXX
Author/Change Controller: IESG
Comments:
Structural object class for entries of no particular type.
[Editor: Here and in Section 2, replace IANA-ASSIGNED-OID with the
assigned OID and XXXX with the RFC number assigned this document.]
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6. References
6.1. Normative References
[RFC2247] Kille, S., Wahl, M., Grimstad, A., Huber, R., Sataluri,
S., "Using Domains in LDAP/X.500 Distinguished Names",
RFC 2247, January 1998.
[RFC2252] Wahl, M., Coulbeck, A., Howes, T., and Kille, S.,
"Lightweight X.500 Directory Access Protocol (v3):
Attribute Syntax Definitions", RFC 2252, December 1997.
[RFC2256] Wahl, M., "A Summary of the X.500(96) User Schema for
use with LDAPv3", RFC 2256, December 1997.
[RFC2798] Smith, M., "Definition of the inetOrgPerson LDAP Object
Class", RFC 2798, April 2000.
6.2. Informative References
[Named] Howard, L., "A Structural Object Class for Arbitrary
Auxiliary Object Classes",
draft-howard-namedobject-xx.txt (a work in progress).
[LDAP-NIS] Howard, L., "An Approach for Using LDAP as a Network
Information Service", RFC 2307, March 1998.
Revised as:
L. Howard, M. Ansari, "An Approach for Using LDAP as a Network
Information Service".
[RFC3377] Hodges, J., Morgan, R., "Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol (v3): Technical Specification", RFC3377,
September 2002.
[X.500] The Directory, ITU-T Recommendations X.500-X.525, 1993.
7. Author's Address
Hallvard B. Furuseth
USIT, University of Oslo
Pb. 1059 - Blindern
0316 Oslo
Norway
E-mail: h.b.furuseth@usit.uio.no
Phone: +47-22 85 28 13
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Alexey Melnikov
Isode Limited
5 Castle Business Village
36 Station Road
Hampton, Middlesex
TW12 2BX, United Kingdom
Email: Alexey.Melnikov@isode.com
URI: http://www.melnikov.ca/
8. Acknowledgments
This document borrows some text from draft-howard-namedobject-xx.txt
[Named].
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Appendix A: Notes on choices made for the object class
(This section will be deleted in the final RFC.)
The c through uid attributes (for naming of entries) match the table
of naming attributes in [RFC2253] (UTF-8 String Representation of
Distinguished Names), in case the entry's RDN needs to match the RDN
of something else.
The description, owner and seeAlso attributes seem good to offer for
"nothing in particular"-kind of entries, since such entries might not
contain anything else which indicates what they are for and who is
responsible for them.
Appendix B: Issues for consideration
(This section will be deleted in the final RFC.)
Is the name of this object class properly reflects its purpose?
Is the choice of naming attributes good?
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