In a bid to have as many applications available for the launch of its upcoming Active Directory software, Microsoft Corp yesterday released the latest version, 2.5, of its Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI). Redmond said ADSI 2.5 adds new Active Directory-centric features, improves ADSI support for building directory-enabled applications using familiar client/server tools, and provides a way for those in the independent software vendor (ISV) community to extend ADSI with their own plug-in features. Historically, integrating applications with directory services has been a time-consuming process that has required developers to write many lines of complex code to accomplish basic tasks, the company said.
Earlier versions of ADSI simplified application development for standards-based directory services and Novell’s NDS, but did not provide specific support for Active Directory. With ADSI 2.5 however, developers can, for the first time, take full advantage of the Active Directory feature set and access directory data within queries and joins. Historically, the complexity of writing directory-enabled applications has resulted in directory services moving little beyond their initial role of user account management, Mike Nash, director of marketing for Windows NT Server operating system and infrastructure products at Microsoft, said. ADSI 2.5 will enable a wide range of application developers to deliver significantly more customer value on top of Active Directory, in time for the release of Windows 2000. As well as support for Active Directory, other new features include support for OLE DB and support for distributed query features in Microsoft SQL Server 7.0, and Microsoft OLE DB DataLink to enable quick reporting and simplified development of forms-based applications. Rival directory vendor, Novell Corp, is also doing its best to up the number of applications available for its NDS platform. Last month, the company bought Netoria Inc, which specializes in developing programs specifically for NDS, but CEO Eric Schmidt said he plans to add more over the next coming months.
