ManagementAgent.NormalizeString(String) Method

The NormalizeString(String) method enables the user to normalize case and accent in a string according to the setting for that particular MA. By calling this function, the user can normalize the string according to the connected directory format during provisioning. As a result, when the management agent string is imported back to the connector space from the target directory, the string value imported will be the same as what was written to connector space at provisioning time, allowing confirmation of the export.

public void NormalizeString(String)(
  string Value
);

Public Sub NormalizeString(String)( _
  ByVal Value As string _
)

• Value
  Text string to normalize.The string will be changed to upper case, and accents will be normalized to the user interface for the MA.

This method does not return a value.

Certain directories, such as RACF, TopSecret, or ACF2 change text strings that are imported into the directory to remove accents from text characters or to make the text strings all upper case. When data from the management agent is imported back into the connector space, the string in connector space is not the same as what was staged for export, since the directory will have modified the value. When you use this method, you can set case rules on the string, which makes the string all upper case, or accent rules, which removes accent characters from the string. Since normalization is carried out only in outbound synchronization, setting the initial value of an attribute in CS where the configuration specifies normalizing both case and accents would yield the following:

• MV attribute value is café.
• On initial attribute setting or during EAF, use of NormalizeString transforms the value (assuming both case and accents are configured in the UI) to CAFE.
• CS attribute is export to RACF as CAFE.
• At a later stage, the CAFE is imported, and the unconfirmed change is cleared.

This method is used on the Extensible Management Agent and the XML Management Agent. The management agents can be call-based or file-based.

Once you have created the management agent that contains this method, you must use the Identity Manager UI to set the options for how the string should be normalized. In Identity Manager, you will need to create a new management agent. In the Create Management Agent UI, on the Configure Connection Information page, the management agents can be set as call-based or file-based. You must select the Import and Export radio button as the step type. On the Configure Attributes page, there are two check boxes: Upper Case and Remove Accents. Select one or both options.

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Build date: 2/16/2009