Understanding Resources

The following sections provide information to help you learn about GroupWise® resources:


Resource Objects

Each resource you want to make available must be added as a Resource object in Novell® eDirectoryTM. The name that you give the Resource object becomes the name by which the resource is displayed in the GroupWise Address Book.

Resource objects can be located in any eDirectory container that is in the same tree as the resource's domain.


Resource Types

You can identify the resource as a general resource or as a place. When a user schedules a resource that is defined as a place, the resource description is automatically added to the Place field in the appointment.


Resource Mailboxes

Like a user, a resource must be assigned to a post office so that it can be given an account (address, mailbox, and so forth). You assign the resource to a post office when you create the Resource object.

A resource's account enables it to receive scheduling requests (sent as appointments). The owner assigned to the resource can go into the resource's mailbox to accept or decline the requests. For example, you might want to have all your conference rooms defined as resources. When sending a meeting appointment, users could schedule the conference room as well as the meeting attendees. The resource, just like the other users scheduled for the meeting, would receive an appointment in its mailbox which could be accepted or declined by the owner.

When scheduling a resource, users can perform a busy search to see when the resource is available.

Even though a resource is assigned to a single post office, all users in your GroupWise system can schedule the resource.

Resources can receive all item types (mail messages, phone messages, appointments, tasks, and notes). Generally, if your purpose in defining resources is to allow them to be scheduled through GroupWise, they will only receive appointments.


Resource Owners

When you create a resource, you assign an owner to it. The owner must belong to the same post office as the resource and will be responsible for accepting or declining requests to schedule the resource. The owner can do this by proxying the resource's mailbox and physically opening the scheduling requests, or by setting up rules to manage the resource automatically.

The owner automatically receives proxy rights to the resource's mailbox. The owner can also grant proxy rights to another user to manage the resources.

For information about how owners can manage resources, see "Owning Resources" in "Managing Your Mailbox" in the GroupWise 6.5 Windows Client User Guide.