Policy Server Guides › Policy Server Configuration Guide › User Directories › User Attribute Mapping › Apply User Attribute Mapping › Sort Name Use Case

Sort Name Use Case

This use case shows how you can use a calculated expression attribute mapping and an alias attribute mapping to represent the sort name of a user in Directory A and Directory B.

Given:

1. Directory A does not uniquely identify a user's sort name. Directory A does store a user's first name as givenname and a user's last name as surname.
2. Directory B identifies a user's sort name with sort_name.

   This results in two different representations and views of the same user information.

Solution:

1. Create a calculated expression attribute mapping for Directory A:
   • Name the mapping SortName.
   • Define SortName as:

     (surname + "," + givenname)
     

     Note: The expression must conform to the syntax rules of a SiteMinder expression.

2. Create an alias attribute mapping for Directory B:
   • Name the mapping SortName.
   • Define SortName as sort_name.

Result:

You can reference SortName when defining policies, expressions, or other objects that require the sort name of users, without concern for the directory-specific schema, because the directories are operationally identical. SiteMinder determines that the sort name must be calculated when referencing users in Directory A and is sort_name when referencing users in Directory B.