Patent ID: 7634513

Claim:
Software for use in implementing a directory services system, the software comprising a program of instructions encoded on a computer readable memory and when executed using one or more processors, operable to: using one or more processors to arrange attributes of a directory in a database adapted to store a plurality of entries, each entry representing an object and each entry having at least one attribute, each attribute being related to one of a plurality of attribute types and each attribute having an attribute value; wherein the database comprises: a first column adapted to store the attribute types; a second column adapted to store attribute syntaxes, wherein each attribute syntax identifies treatment for an attribute value in an entry associated with the attribute syntax, the treatment based on one or more syntax rules; a third column adapted to store the attribute values; a fourth column adapted to store one or more distinguished value identifiers corresponding to one or more of the plurality of attributes, wherein each distinguished value identifier indicates whether the corresponding attribute value is used to name a corresponding entry; and a fifth column adapted to store aliases, wherein each alias correlates two or more of the plurality of entries, each alias pointing from a first entry to a correlated entry by providing an alternative name for that entry and identifying that the first entry is an alias of the correlated entry.