The Publisher channel of the Manual Task Service driver runs a Web server configured so that users can enter data into eDirectory through a Web browser. The Web server is designed to work in conjunction with e-mail messages sent from the Subscriber channel of the Manual Task Service driver.
The Publisher channel Web server can serve static files and dynamic content. Examples of static files are .css style sheets, images, etc. Examples of dynamic content are Web pages that change based on the replacement data contained in the URL or HTTP POST data.
The Publisher channel Web server is normally configured to allow a user to enter data into eDirectory in response to an e-mail that was sent by the Subscriber channel. A typical user interaction with the Web server is as follows:
The user uses a Web browser to submit the URL from the e-mail message to the Web server. The URL specifies the style sheet, template, and replacement data used to create a dynamic Web page (typically containing an HTML form).
The Web server creates an HTML page by processing the template with the style sheet and replacement data. The HTML page is returned to the user’s Web browser as the resource referred to by the URL.
The browser displays the HTML page and the user enters the requested information.
The browser sends an HTTP POST request containing the entered information as well as other information that originated from the e-mail URL. The DN of the user responding to the e-mail and the user’s password must be in the POST data.
The Web server uses the user’s DN and password to authenticate. If the authentication fails, then a Web page containing a failure message is returned as the result of the POST request. The failure message can be constructed by using a style sheet and template specified in the POST data. If authentication succeeds, processing continues.
The Web server constructs an XDS document by using a style sheet and template specified in the POST data. The XDS document is submitted to Identity Manager on the Publisher channel.
The result of the XDS document submission, together with a style sheet and template specified in the POST data, is used to construct a Web page indicating to the user the result of the data submission. This Web page is sent to the browser as the result of the POST request.