VB 2005 with Active Directory

[IainM]

How can I enumerate AD objects (only in a given OU, not sub OUs) using the
DirectoryEntry object?

Let me know of this is the wrong forum for this question.

Thanks,
Iain

[Jeffrey Tan[MSFT]]

Hi Lain,

Based on my understanding, you want to enumerate the sub objects under
certain OU.

Then, can you be specific about which objects you want to enumerate? I
think the key point is binding to the correct LDAP string(which you can get
the detailed LDAP string with tool such as ADSI Edit), and then you can
enumerate its sub properties. For example, if you want to enumerate the
users in a group, you may refer to the sample listed in the link below:
"Enumeratin g Users in a Group"
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...us/sds/sds/enu
merating_users_ in_a_group.asp

The article below provided a more complex sample about enumerate AD objects
in .Net:
"Enumeratin g Active Directory Objects using C#"
http://www.codeproject.com/dotnet/adtester.asp

You also will find a lot of code samples regarding using
System.Director yServices in sub-nodes of the link below:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...us/sds/sds/usi
ng_system_direc toryservices.as p

If you need specific help or I have misunderstood you, please feel free to
tell me, thanks.

Best regards,
Jeffrey Tan
Microsoft Online Community Support
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[IainM]

I'm unexperienced in C, but I'll have a look at
http://www.codeproject.com/dotnet/adtester.asp. I got sample code to use the
DirectorySearch object, but that returns all objects in AD, not just the OU
I'm interested in. I'm basically wanting to write my own version of the AD
Users & Computers mmc console.

Thanks for the reply,
Iain

The sample code on the Microsoft website

""Jeffrey Tan[MSFT]"" wrote:

Hi Lain,

Based on my understanding, you want to enumerate the sub objects under
certain OU.

Then, can you be specific about which objects you want to enumerate? I
think the key point is binding to the correct LDAP string(which you can get
the detailed LDAP string with tool such as ADSI Edit), and then you can
enumerate its sub properties. For example, if you want to enumerate the
users in a group, you may refer to the sample listed in the link below:
"Enumeratin g Users in a Group"
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...us/sds/sds/enu
merating_users_ in_a_group.asp

The article below provided a more complex sample about enumerate AD objects
in .Net:
"Enumeratin g Active Directory Objects using C#"
http://www.codeproject.com/dotnet/adtester.asp

You also will find a lot of code samples regarding using
System.Director yServices in sub-nodes of the link below:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...us/sds/sds/usi
ng_system_direc toryservices.as p

If you need specific help or I have misunderstood you, please feel free to
tell me, thanks.

Best regards,
Jeffrey Tan
Microsoft Online Community Support
=============== =============== =============== =====
Get notification to my posts through email? Please refer to
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscripti...ult.aspx#notif
ications.

Note: The MSDN Managed Newsgroup support offering is for non-urgent issues
where an initial response from the community or a Microsoft Support
Engineer within 1 business day is acceptable. Please note that each follow
up response may take approximately 2 business days as the support
professional working with you may need further investigation to reach the
most efficient resolution. The offering is not appropriate for situations
that require urgent, real-time or phone-based interactions or complex
project analysis and dump analysis issues. Issues of this nature are best
handled working with a dedicated Microsoft Support Engineer by contacting
Microsoft Customer Support Services (CSS) at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscripti...t/default.aspx.
=============== =============== =============== =====
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

[Jeffrey Tan[MSFT]]

Hi Lain,

Thanks for your feedback!

Do you mean that you are not familiar with C#? Oh, yes, it is strange that
most of the samples I find are written in C#, not VB.net. However, the
basic idea is the same.

I found one VB.net sample of accessing the user list, for your information:
"Accessing LDAP User list using VB.NET"
http://www.codeproject.com/vb/net/LDAP_Using_VBnet.asp

The best way to translate the C# sample code into VB.net is using
Reflector. *Reflector* is a tool written by Microsoft engineer Lutz Roeder.
It uses .Net Reflection to parse the internal information of the .Net FCL
assemblies. It also decomplies the MSIL code in the FCL into various
languages, such as C#, VB.net, IL etc... It is somewhat like ILdasm.exe in
.Net Framework, but provides higher level language(C#) display. Using it,
you can see the source code of .Net FCL. It is a must have tool for .Net
developer. You may download it for free in the link below:
http://www.aisto.com/roeder/dotnet/

In your scenario, you can use Reflector to open the assemblies generated by
these C# samples. Then you can switch the language from C# to VB.net, then
you can view the sample code in VB.net.

Besides Reflector, you may also some C# to VB.net translators to convert
the sample code. However, these convertion tools are not perfect, you have
to correct the translated VB.net code, I normally use the one below:
http://authors.aspalliance.com/aldot...translate.aspx

Additionally, since you want to write your own version of the AD Users &
Computers mmc console, I found a lot more samples in .Net doing the similar
task, you may refer to their source code as sample:
"Simple Active Directory Browser"
http://www.codeproject.com/dotnet/ac...rybrowser1.asp
"Dynamicall y browse Active Directory Objects"
http://www.codeproject.com/dotnet/Ac...ry_Browser.asp
"Querying Active Directory using .NET classes and LDAP queries"
http://www.codeproject.com/dotnet/activedirquery.asp

Finally, since the .Net DirectoryServic e encapsulates Win32 ADSI
technology, I am sure you will get more useful and professional help in the
microsoft.publi c.adsi.general newsgroup. There are several ADSI programming
experts(MVP) in this newsgroup, and some of them even authored 1 or 2 AD
books. :-)

Hope this helps.

Best regards,
Jeffrey Tan
Microsoft Online Community Support
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Engineer within 1 business day is acceptable. Please note that each follow
up response may take approximately 2 business days as the support
professional working with you may need further investigation to reach the
most efficient resolution. The offering is not appropriate for situations
that require urgent, real-time or phone-based interactions or complex
project analysis and dump analysis issues. Issues of this nature are best
handled working with a dedicated Microsoft Support Engineer by contacting
Microsoft Customer Support Services (CSS) at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscripti...t/default.aspx.
=============== =============== =============== =====
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

[IainM]

That's a lot of helpful information you've passed on! I'll look at the URL's
you provided; they look as if they can give me a good start.

Thanks a lot for your help!

Iain