2.4 Specifying the Pattern for User IDs
Using Identity Manager for provisioning ensures that eDirectory User IDs follow a consistent pattern, and it eliminates human error in creating User IDs. Consistently following a good pattern reduces support time because you don’t need to go in to the Identity Vault to look up User IDs; instead, the student can predict the ID by knowing the pattern (such as last name, first initial, and student ID) and applying it to his or her own information.
You need to plan the pattern you want the driver to follow when creating an eDirectory User ID.
The driver configuration gives you a lot of flexibility in specifying the pattern for creating User IDs. You specify one pattern for student User IDs and a separate pattern for creating staff User IDs. You can create User IDs that are a combination of up to 5 parts.
The following figure shows an example of the options that are provided for User IDs in the driver configuration.
Figure 2-10 Five Parts You Can Use to Create a Pattern for User IDs
You can use the following attributes from the student information system:
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Last Name
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First Name
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Middle Name
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Student ID number
HINT:Formats that include part of the student ID number are more likely to produce unique User IDs.
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Graduation Year
In addition to using attributes, you also have the option to specify one of the following values:
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Text
You could incorporate a text string you specify. The text field where you enter the string is the last field shown in Figure 2-10.
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None
Using this option for one of the parts of the User ID indicates that the part has no value and is not being used. For example, if you wanted the User ID to be made up of only three parts, you could specify None as the value for parts 4 and 5.
For each part, you specify a length. The length indicates the number of characters or digits to use from the attribute. For Last Name, First Name, Middle Name, and Text, the left-most characters are used. For Student ID and Graduation Year, the right-most digits are used.
Example
In this figure showing the User ID section of the driver configuration, the administrator has chosen to use four parts for the User ID. Because the fifth part is not needed, it is set to None.
Figure 2-11 Sample User ID Pattern
Table 2-3 represents the same choices, and what the resulting parts of the User ID would be for an example user, Michelle Jones. For this example, the resulting User ID would be “S-JonesM3842.”