Administration Guide › Set Up Views › Views

Views

A view provides a virtual abstraction of directory data. This enables LDAP applications to view the data in a way that matches the needs of the application, similar to the way that database views are used in RDBMS systems. You define a view to the DSA process and can then invoke it multiple times.

Sometimes you need the results from one search to use as input to another one, and you may also need to include the results of multiple searches to get the result you need. A view helps in such situations because it gives you a way to define a single complex search that combines a number of ordinary LDAP searches. The searches can be performed across multiple DSAs, and a search can use the results of earlier searches in the view.

Some advantages of views are as follows:

• Views allow simpler applications, and let you keep the same application even if the underlying data changes.
• Views let you normalize directory information, which reduces DIT size, and still lets you reference the data with a single, view-based, search.
• Views increase performance because the DSA keeps intermediate results for reuse in a view, rather than sending them back to the user.

Example: A View Used by a Large Service Provider Company

Consider a broadband service provider with entries for customers, customer contracts, accounts, services, and physical devices. The structure of the directory lets you easily find information based on the customer, but it is not built to easily find information based on the physical device. For example, to find the services used by a device you may need the following chain of searches:

1. Provide the router number and get the customer name.
2. Provide the customer name and get details on the contract and account details.
3. Provide the contract and account details and get details on the customer services.

A view gives you a way to combine these searches into one search, as follows:

1. Provide the router number and get details of the current customer services.