XADM: How to Set Up a Search for a Custom Attribute

Last reviewed: April 3, 1997
Article ID: Q151198

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Exchange Server, version 4.0

SUMMARY

In many cases, Microsoft Exchange administrator's would like users to be able to search the Global Address List (GAL) based on fields that are not available by default. This article explains how to include additional attributes in searches and Address Name Resolutions (ANR).

MORE INFORMATION

To adding a custom attribute to a search, an administrator will need to perform the following:

Change the name of the custom attribute.
Add the custom attribute to be included in searches.
Modify the Search template of the Address Book.

For example, if you want to modify Custom Attribute 1 to represent each user's Birthday, follow these steps:

Open the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program in Raw mode by
```
    specifying Admin /r on the command line.
```

2. Bring up the properties of the DS Site Configuration object in the

    Configuration container.

3. Select the Custom Attributes property page. 4. Type "Birthday" as the value for Custom Attribute 1 and click on OK. 5. From the View menu, select Raw Directory. This should add a container

    in the left pane called Schema.

6. Double click the Schema object and hit F5 to refresh the display. 7. Get the properties of the Birthday object by double clicking on the

    object or by selecting the Properties command from the File menu.

8. This should bring up a message box. Click the Yes button to view the

    raw properties of the object.

9. From the Object attributes listbox, select the Search-Flags attribute. 10. In the Edit value box, enter the value 2 and then click the Set button. 11. Click on OK to close the Property Sheet. 12. Go to the Configuration, Addressing, Details Templates, English/USA

    container. Select the Search Dialog object and get its properties.

13. Select the Templates page. 14. Click the New button, select Label, and click OK. 15. Enter the following details:

       X = 10       Y = 130
       Width = 25   Height = 12
       Text = Birthday
    and click on OK.

16. Click the New button, select Edit, and click OK. 17. Enter the following details:

       X = 65       Y = 130
       Width = 50   Height = 12
       Field = Birthday
     and click on OK.

18. Click the Test button. This should bring up a dialog that will allow

    you to test the changes you just made. This is how the dialog will
    appear from the Microsoft Exchange client.

After the above steps have been completed, a user can search the GAL based on the Birthday field. The search dialog will contain a field for the Birthday. In order for the search to be successful, the Birthday field on the Custom Attributes page of each mailbox's properties will need to be filled in by the administrator.

In order for the Birthday field to appear in the details of each user when viewed from a Microsoft Exchange client, steps 13-18 should be repeated on the Configuration, Details Templates, English/USA, Mailbox object.

Additional query words:
Keywords : kbusage XADM XCLN
Version : 4.0 5.0
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto

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Last reviewed: April 3, 1997
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