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The User Directory

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This content is no longer actively maintained. It is provided as is, for anyone who may still be using these technologies, with no warranties or claims of accuracy with regard to the most recent product version or service release.

The workflow application User Directory stores information that identifies users for your workflow applications. The information is stored and maintained separately for each server or Microsoft® SQL Server™ Named Instance and not for each workflow application on the server. To be stored in this directory, the user also must be identified as a Microsoft® Windows® 2000 user and have a SQL Server login with a role in your workflow application. In addition, Windows groups can be included as members in the user directory.

Contents

The user directory stores the following information about users:

  • Windows 2000 user name (for example, "MyDomain\Bobk")
  • First name
  • Last name
  • E-mail address
  • Exchange Distinguished Name (uniquely identifies the user's Microsoft® Exchange mailbox)
  • Manager
  • Telephone number
  • Company
  • Department

Maintenance

The Workflow Manager for SQL Server provides several synchronization options for populating and maintaining the list of users who have access to workflow applications. You can choose to synchronize with an existing list of users, or you can maintain the directory manually. In addition, you can choose to synchronize once to populate the directory initially and then maintain the information manually thereafter.

Options

You can choose to keep the workflow application User Directory current in one of the following three ways:

  • Synchronize with the Windows 2000 Active Directory.
  • Synchronize with Exchange Server. If you are using Exchange Server to synchronize user information and a user has information in the Exchange Global Address List, then the additional information from Exchange is combined with the Windows user information in the user directory. If a Windows account has multiple Exchange mailboxes, the synchronization process automatically selects the first entry returned by Exchange. If you want to select a different mailbox, you can do so in the Workflow Manager for SQL Server.
  • Maintain the directory manually. The server administrator can enter user information using the User Information tab in the Workflow Manager, but cannot add or delete users.

Permissions Required

Any member of the modAppOwners group can synchronize the user directory. However, only members of the SQL Server system administrators role can configure synchronization. Configuration includes enabling synchronization with Exchange or Active Directory, designating the Exchange server name, setting up the synchronization schedule, and changing user information manually.

Note   If you make any changes to the membership of database roles in your workflow application, you must synchronize the user directory for role permissions to work properly.

Architecture

The workflow application User Directory, stored in a table in the modSystem database, contains information for all workflow users on that server or SQL Server Named Instance. In each workflow application, two objects work together to store the user information for that particular workflow application: modUserList and modUserRoles.

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  • The modUserList table is stored in the modSystem database. It contains information for all project users on a SQL Server.

  • A modUserRoles table is stored in each workflow-enabled database. It associates users with the roles to which they belong. The user's SAMAccountName is tied to a RoleName in the workflow application.

  • A modUserList view is stored in each workflow-enabled database. It displays the user information for users of the particular workflow application. This view is based on the modUserList table in the modSystem database, and its recordset is limited using the relationship between SAMAccountName in modUserRoles to SAMAccountName in modUserList.

    Note   If you create a workflow application without a template, you must synchronize manually the first time to set up the initial user list. When creating a database from scratch or registering an existing database as a workflow application, the modUserList view and modUserRoles table do not have any data until the first time the user directory is synchronized manually. When creating a workflow application based on a template, the user directory is synchronized automatically upon completion of the Template wizard.

See Also

User Information for Workflow Applications | Maintaining the User Directory for Workflow Applications | Synchronizing the User Directory | Populating Controls with User Information