Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Security Handbook

Objects and Attributes

Objects in the directory are a collection of attributes that describe the entity that the object represents. An object can be a printer, a user account, or almost anything. Because of this flexibility, a directory database can contain information about a whole world of information. Depending on how objects are created, you can use a directory to keep track of almost any kind of information. Although the initial attempts at creating a directory database centered around objects that were more or less concrete—those that did not change often—more recent usages include objects that are extremely volatile. For example, an object can be created that represents a meeting held on a specific date. Attributes of the object can store ...