Working with the Directory

Two sets of functions and one Internet protocol are available for working with Microsoft Exchange Server directory objects:

• Directory access functions The directory access functions are specific to Microsoft Exchange Server. Applications that use directory access functions run on Windows NT Server computers on which the Microsoft Exchange Server Administrator program is installed. They are not available to Windows 95 clients. You can use directory access functions to create, manipulate, delete, export, and import directory objects. You can also use them to move user information from Windows NT Server and Novell NetWare accounts into the Microsoft Exchange Server directory. For more information, see Using Directory Access Functions.
• MAPI The MAPI address book interface can be used to perform many of the same tasks that you can perform with the directory access functions. Because MAPI is independent of the underlying directory service, your application will work with any MAPI-compliant directory service. For more information, see Using MAPI with Directory Objects.
• LDAP You can also access the directory through the LDAP protocol. See Using the LDAP Protocol.

For a comparison of using the first two methods, see Comparing MAPI with Directory Access Functions.