Customizing the Schema46 Netscape Directory Server Deployment Guide • August 2002In the table, the employee name describes a person. In the default directoryschema, we found the person object class, which inherits from the top object class.This object class allows several attributes, one of which is the cn or commonNameattribute, which describes the full name of the person. This attribute makes the bestmatch for containing the employee name data.The user password also describes an aspect of the person object. In the list ofallowed attributes for the person object, we find userPassword.The home phone number describes an aspect of a person, however we do not findan appropriate attribute in the list associated with the person object class.Analyzing the home phone number more specifically, we can say it describes anaspect of a person in an organization’s enterprise network. This object correspondsto the inetOrgPerson object class in the directory schema. The inetOrgPersonobject class inherits from the organizationPerson object class, which in turninherits from the person object class. Among the inetOrgPerson object’s allowedattributes, we locate the homePhone attribute, which is appropriate for containingthe employee’s home telephone number.Customizing the SchemaYou can extend the standard schema if it proves to be too limited for your directoryneeds. To help you extend your schema, the Directory Server includes a schemamanagement tool. For more information, see Netscape Directory ServerAdministrator’s Guide.Keep the following rules in mind when customizing your schema:• Reuse existing schema elements whenever possible.• Minimize the number of mandatory attributes you define for each object class.• Do not define more than one object class or attribute for the same purpose.• Keep the schema as simple as possible.• Do not modify any existing definitions of attributes or object classes.NOTE When customizing the schema you should never delete or replacethe standard schema. Doing so can lead to compatibility problemswith other directories or other LDAP client applications.
