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Trail: Java Naming and Directory Interface(TM).
Lesson: Naming and Directory Operations
Naming and Directory Operations
Naming Exceptions
Lookup an Object
List the Context
Add, Replace or Remove a Binding
Rename
Create and Destroy Subcontexts
Attribute Names
Read Attributes
Modify Attributes
Add, Replace Bindings with Attributes
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Home Page > Java Naming and Directory Interface(TM). > Naming and Directory Operations
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Modify Attributes

> The `DirContext` interface contains methods for modifying the attributes and attribute values of objects in the directory.

> #### Using a List of Modifications

> One way to modify the attributes of an object is to supply a list of modification requests ( `ModificationItem`). Each `ModificationItem` consists of a numeric constant indicating the type of modification to make and an `Attribute` describing the modification to make. Following are the three types of modifications: `
> - ADD_ATTRIBUTE
> - REPLACE_ATTRIBUTE
> - REMOVE_ATTRIBUTE
> `

> Modifications are applied in the order in which they appear in the list. Either all of the modifications are executed, or none are.

> The following code creates a list of modifications. It replaces the `"mail"` attribute's value with a value of `"geisel@wizards.com"`, adds an additional value to the `"telephonenumber"` attribute, and removes the `"jpegphoto"` attribute.

> >     // Specify the changes to make
> >     ModificationItem[] mods = new ModificationItem[3];

> >     // Replace the "mail" attribute with a new value
> >     mods[0] = new ModificationItem(DirContext.REPLACE_ATTRIBUTE,
> >         new BasicAttribute("mail", "geisel@wizards.com"));

> >     // Add an additional value to "telephonenumber"
> >     mods[1] = new ModificationItem(DirContext.ADD_ATTRIBUTE,
> >         new BasicAttribute("telephonenumber", "+1 555 555 5555"));

> >     // Remove the "jpegphoto" attribute
> >     mods[2] = new ModificationItem(DirContext.REMOVE_ATTRIBUTE,
> >         new BasicAttribute("jpegphoto"));

> > Windows Active Directory: Active Directory defines "telephonenumber" to be a single-valued attribute, contrary to RFC 2256. To get this example to work against Active Directory, you must either use an attribute other than "telephonenumber", or change the `DirContext.ADD_ATTRIBUTE` to `DirContext.REPLACE_ATTRIBUTE`.

> After creating this list of modifications, you can supply it to `modifyAttributes()` as follows.

> >     // Perform the requested modifications on the named object
> >     ctx.modifyAttributes(name, mods);

> #### Using Attributes

> Alternatively, you can perform modifications by specifying the type of modification and the attributes to which to apply the modification.

> For example, the following line replaces the attributes (identified in `orig`) associated with `name` with those in `orig`:

> >     ctx.modifyAttributes(name, DirContext.REPLACE_ATTRIBUTE, orig);

> Any other attributes of `name` remain unchanged.

> Both of these uses of `modifyAttributes()` are demonstrated in the sample program. This program modifies the attributes by using a modification list and then uses the second form of `modifyAttributes()` to restore the original attributes.

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