Patent ID: 8909659

Claim:
A method of executing an operation in a directory information system, comprising: receiving a request to perform a predetermined procedure, wherein the predetermined procedure comprises a first operation and a second operation; performing the first operation within a directory information system in accordance with the predetermined procedure, the first operation comprising a search for one or more of a plurality of directory objects, the plurality of directory objects being stored in a computer-readable medium having a directory information structure, the search generating one or more first results; performing the second operation within the directory information system in accordance with the predetermined procedure, the second operation using a portion of the one or more first results generated by the search for the one or more of the plurality of objects, the second operation generating one more second results, the second results comprising additional results that are exclusive of the first results; generating a virtual directory view of the directory information system, the virtual directory view comprising: a virtual directory hierarchy based on the portion of the one or more first results, wherein the virtual directory hierarchy differs from the directory information structure; and the one or more first results and the one or more second results organized according to the virtual directory hierarchy; returning the virtual directory view; and modifying the directory information structure, wherein modifying the directory information structure does not affect the virtual directory view.