Global configuration values (GCVs) are values that can be used by the driver to control functionality. GCVs are defined on the driver or on the driver set. GCVs can be defined in the resource object, which can then be linked to either the driver object or the driverset object. Driver set GCVs can be used by all drivers in the driver set. Driver GCVs can be used only by the driver on which they are defined. GCVs contain definitions related to the XML representation of global configuration values.
The precedence order in which the GCV definitions are loaded is:
GCV definitions on the driver object.
GCV definitions in the DirXML-GlobalConfigDef objects linked to the driver.
GCV definitions on the Driverset object.
GCV definitions in the DirXML- GlobalConfigDef objects linked to the Driverset.
In case of a conflict that arises due to the same GCV definition being present in a resource object and Driver/Driverset, the precedence order is used to determine which GCV definition is in use. The GCV with higher precedence will override the GCV of lower precedence.
GCVs in a driver configuration provide one or more typed values that are presented to the user (typically an administrator) by a user interface agent such as iManager or Designer, hereafter referred to as the Agent. The user can set values through the Agent. These values are used to make decisions in the driver configuration's policies.
Control values (CVs) are described syntactically by XML vocabulary. This vocabulary consists of structural elements, definition elements, reference elements, and control elements. The structural elements are essentially housekeeping units that serve to fulfill XML syntax requirements. The definition elements define the actual control values with their data types and other information. The reference elements are used to refer to data outside the definition document. The control elements affect how the Agent presents the values to the user. The following is an example of a control value XML definition:
<configuration-values>
<definitions>
<definition
display-name="Send email on failure"
name="send-email"
type="boolean"
>
<value>true</value>
</definition>
</definitions>
</configuration-values>
The control value definitions might be stand-alone XML documents or embedded in other XML documents depending on the usage. For example, GCVs are defined in stand-alone documents found in stream-syntax attributes on DirXML-DriverSet and DirXML-Driver objects, and shim parameters are embedded in a <driver-config> XML document. GCV definitions can also be present in the DirXML-Config driver object (resource object) or the driver set object. In past GCV's have been stored this way; however, with Identity Manager 4.0, GCVs are stored in the DirXML-Config objects. The DirXMl-ShimConfigInfo attribute uses the same DTD to define driver Configuration settings.
An Agent that presents control values to a user is responsible for parsing the XML definition, presenting the values in a meaningful way, allowing the user to make allowable changes to the values, and finally, for storing the XML definition with updated values. Some Agents might also provide for defining CVs in some cases (for example in Designer as part of editing a driver configuration or as part of creating a Job definition). There are Java classes in Identity Manager that can be used by Agents to assist with the parsing, correctness checking, and serialization of CV definition documents.