Vista - ADSI and Searching Indexed Attributes

I'm reading the Microsoft Windows 2000 Scripting Guide so I can learn to
script. Multiple times it says to optimize your search, use indexed criteria
and naturally these same references are made on the MSDN site.

I understand why I'd want to search indexed entries but it makes it sound
like I have a choice. For example, if I need to search AD for all objects
with an attribute value of "Windows Server*", aren't I only going to get this
from one attribute, "operatingSystem"? Either that attribute is indexed or
it's not (I don't know off hand). It's not like I can search another
attribute that IS indexed that'll have that same information - or is there? I
certainly didn't see one in ADSI Edit. I really don't see any information
that is duplicated in another attribute.

This advice really doesn't seem helpful unless I have the authority to
change the schema and index an attribute - perhaps that's the point.

Larry wrote:
You are correct that you usually have no choice. The operatingSystem
attribute is not indexed. The most common example where it matters is
objectCategory vs. objectClass. The former is indexed, the latter is not.

The systemFlags property of attribute objects (in the Schema container of
AD) indicates if the attribute is indexed (among other settings). The
systemFlags property is a flag attribute where you use a bit mask to tell if
the appropriate bit is set (similar to userAccountControl). Several bit
masks are used with this property. Unfortunately, this generally makes it
difficult to tell which bits are set. A VBScript example to tell if a
specific attribute is indexed would be as follows:
==========
Const IS_INDEXED = 1

Set objAttribute =
GetObject("LDAP://cn=Operating-System,cn=Schema,cn=Configuration,dc=MyDomain,dc=com")
intSysFlags = objAttribute.systemFlags
If ((intSysFlags And IS_INDEXED) <> 0) Then
Wscript.Echo "The attribute is indexed"
Else
Wscript.Echo "The attribute is NOT indexed"
End If
==========
In this case, because the bit mask is 1, any odd value for systemFlags means
the attribute is indexed. Any even value means the attribute is NOT indexed.
The value of systemFlags for the Operating-System attribute is 16. You can
view this with ADSI Edit or ldp in the Schema container of the Configuration
container of your AD.

--
Richard Mueller
MVP Directory Services
Hilltop Lab - http://www.rlmueller.net
--

Thanks for the confirmation.

"Richard Mueller [MVP]" wrote: