A white pages schema is a
data model
A data model is an abstract model that organizes elements of data and standardizes how they relate to one another and to the properties of real-world entities. For instance, a data model may specify that the data element representing a car be c ...
, specifically a
logical schema A logical data model or logical schema is a data model of a specific problem domain expressed independently of a particular database management product or storage technology ( physical data model) but in terms of data structures such as relational t ...
, for organizing the data contained in entries in a
directory service
In computing, a directory service or name service maps the names of network resources to their respective network addresses. It is a shared information infrastructure for locating, managing, administering and organizing everyday items and network ...
, database, or application, such as an address book. In a white pages directory, each entry typically represents an individual
person that makes use of network resources, such as by receiving email or having an account to log into a system.
In some environments, the schema may also include the representation of organizational divisions, roles, groups, and devices. The term is derived from the
white pages
A telephone directory, commonly called a telephone book, telephone address book, phonebook, or the white and yellow pages, is a listing of telephone subscribers in a geographical area or subscribers to services provided by the organization tha ...
, the listing of individuals in a
telephone directory
A telephone directory, commonly called a telephone book, telephone address book, phonebook, or the white and yellow pages, is a listing of telephone subscribers in a geographical area or subscribers to services provided by the organization that ...
, typically sorted by the individual's home location (e.g. city) and then by
their name.
While many
telephone service providers have for decades published a list of their
subscribers in a
telephone directory
A telephone directory, commonly called a telephone book, telephone address book, phonebook, or the white and yellow pages, is a listing of telephone subscribers in a geographical area or subscribers to services provided by the organization that ...
, and similarly corporations published a list of their employees in an internal directory, it was not until the rise of
electronic mail
Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic (digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...
systems that a requirement for standards for the electronic exchange of
subscriber information between different systems appeared.
A white pages schema typically defines, for each real-world object being represented:
* what attributes of that object are to be represented in the entry for that object
* what relationships of that object to other objects are to be represented
* how is the entry to be named in a
DIT
* how an entry is to be located by a client searching for it
* how similar entries are to be distinguished
* how are entries to be ordered when displayed in a list
One of the earliest attempts to standardize a white pages schema for electronic mail use was in
X.520 X5 or X-5 may refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* X5 Music Group, a record label based in Sweden
* X5 Retail, formerly the largest retailer in Russia
Electronics
* GE X5, a bridge digital camera
* iAUDIO X5, a portable digital audio play ...
and
X.521, part of the
X.500 specifications,
that was derived from the addressing requirements of
X.400 and defined a
Directory Information Tree that mirrored the international telephone system, with entries representing residential and organizational subscribers. This evolved into the
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP ) is an open, vendor-neutral, industry standard application protocol for accessing and maintaining distributed directory information services over an Internet Protocol (IP) network. Directory ser ...
standard schema in . One of the most widely deployed white pages schemas used in LDAP
for representing individuals in an organizational context is inetOrgPerson, defined in , although versions of
Active Directory
Active Directory (AD) is a directory service developed by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems as a set of Process (computing), processes and Windows service, services. Initially, Active D ...
require a different object class, User. Many large organizations have
also defined their own white pages schemas for their employees or customers, as part of their
Identity management architecture. Converting between data bases and directories using different schemas is often the
function of a
Metadirectory {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot)
A metadirectory system provides for the flow of data between one or more directory services and databases, in order to maintain synchronization of that data, and is an important part of identit ...
, and data interchange standards such as
Common Indexing Protocol.
Some early directory deployments suffered due to poor design choices in their white pages schema, such as:
* attributes used for naming purposes were non-unique in large environments (such as a person's common name)
* attributes used for naming purposes were likely to change (such as surnames)
* attributes were included which could lead to
Identity theft
Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term ''identity theft'' was c ...
, such as a
Social security number
* users were required during
provisioning
In telecommunication, provisioning involves the process of preparing and equipping a network to allow it to provide new services to its users. In National Security/Emergency Preparedness telecommunications services, ''"provisioning"'' equates to ...
to choose attributes which are unique but still memorable to them
Numerous other proposed schemas exist, both as standalone definitions suitable for use with general purpose
directories, or as embedded into network protocols.
Examples of other generic white pages schemas include
vCard
vCard, also known as VCF (Virtual Contact File), is a file format standard for electronic business cards. vCards can be attached to e-mail messages, sent via Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), on the World Wide Web, instant messaging, NFC ...
, defined in , and
FOAF
FOAF (an acronym of friend of a friend) is a machine-readable ontology describing persons, their activities and their relations to other people and objects. Anyone can use FOAF to describe themselves. FOAF allows groups of people to describe soc ...
.
See also
*
Recognition of human individuals
{{DEFAULTSORT:White Pages Schema
Data modeling
Data management
Identity management