Functions reference for Microsoft Identity Manager 2016

In Microsoft Identity Manager (MIM) 2016, functions enable you to modify attribute values prior to flowing them to a target in a function activity or declarative provisioning. The objective of this document is to give you an overview of the available functions and a description of how you can use them.

Configuring attribute flow mappings is an elementary task when configuring synchronization rules. The simplest form of an attribute flow mapping is a direct mapping. As indicated by the name, a direct mapping takes the value of a source attribute and applies it to the configured destination attribute. There are cases where you either need existing attribute values to be modified or new attribute values to be calculated before the system applies them to a destination.

Functions are a built-in method used to define the type of modification you need the synchronization engine to apply when generating an attribute value for a destination.

The MIM functions are distributed into the following categories:

• Data manipulation: Perform a variety of manipulation operations on strings.

• Data retrieval: Extract data from attribute values.

• Data generation: Generate values.

• Logic: Perform operations based on conditions.

The following sections provide more details about the functions in each category.

Data manipulation functions

Data manipulation functions are used to perform a variety of manipulation operations on strings.

Concatenate	Detail
Description	The Concatenate function concatenates two or more strings.
Function signature	string1 + string2...
Inputs	Two or more strings.
Operations	All input string parameters are concatenated with each other.
Output	One string.

UpperCase	Detail
Description	The UpperCase function converts all characters in a string to upper case.
Function signature	String UpperCase(string)
Inputs	One string.
Operations	All lower case characters of the input parameter are converted to upper case characters. For example: UpperCase("test") results in "TEST".
Output	One string.

LowerCase	Detail
Description	The LowerCase function converts all characters in a string to lower case.
Function signature	String LowerCase(string)
Inputs	One string.
Operations	All upper case characters of the input parameter are converted to lower case characters. For example: LowerCase("TeSt") results in "test".
Output	One string.

ProperCase	Detail
Description	The ProperCase function converts the first character of each space-delimited word in a string to upper case. All other characters are converted to lower case.
Function signature	String ProperCase(string)
Inputs	One string.
Operations	The first character of every space-delimited word in the input parameter is converted to upper case. All upper case characters are converted to lower case characters. If a word in the input parameter starts with a non-alphabet character, the first character of the word is not converted to upper case. For example: ProperCase("TEsT") results in "Test". ProperCase("britta simon") results in "Britta Simon". ProperCase(" TEsT") results in " Test". ProperCase("\$TEsT") results in "\$Test".
Output	One string.

LTrim	Detail
Description	The LTrim function removes the leading white-spaces from a string.
Function signature	String LTrim(string)
Inputs	One string.
Operations	The leading white-space characters contained in the input parameter are removed. For example: LTrim(" Test ") results in "Test ".
Output	One string.

RTrim	Detail
Description	The RTrim function removes the trailing white-spaces from a string.
Function signature	String RTrim(string)
Inputs	One string.
Operations	The trailing white-space characters contained in the input parameter are removed. For example: RTrim(" Test ") results in " Test".
Output	One string.

Trim	Detail
Description	The Trim function removes the leading and trailing white-spaces from a string.
Function signature	String Trim(string)
Inputs	One string.
Operations	The leading and trailing white-space characters contained in the string are removed. For example: Trim(" Test ") results in "Test".
Output	One string.

RightPad	Detail
Description	The RightPad function right-pads a string to a specified length by using a provided padding character.
Function signature	String RightPad(string, length, padCharacter)
Inputs	string: The string to pad. length: An integer representing the desired length of the string. padCharacter: A string that consists of a single character to be used as a pad character.
Operations	If the length of string is less than length, then the padCharacter is repeatedly appended to the end of string until the string length is equal to length. For example: RightPad("User", 10, "0") results in "User000000". RightPad(RandomNum(1,10), 5, "0") might result in "9000".
Output	If string has a length greater than or equal to length, a string identical to string is returned. If the length of string is less than length, a new string of the desired length is returned. The new string contains string padded with a padCharacter. If string is null, the function returns an empty string. Note: padCharacter can be a space character, but it cannot be a null value. If the length of string is equal to or greater than length, string is returned unchanged.

LeftPad	Detail
Description	The LeftPad function left-pads a string to a specified length by using a provided padding character.
Function signature	String LeftPad(string, length, padCharacter)
Inputs	string: The string to pad. length: An integer representing the desired length of the string. padCharacter: A string that consists of a single character to be used as a pad character.
Operations	If the length of string is less than length, then the padCharacter is repeatedly appended to the beginning of string until the string length is equal to length. For example: RightPad("User", 10, "0") results in "000000User". RightPad(RandomNum(1,10), 5, "0") might result in "0009".
Output	If string has a length greater than or equal to length, a string identical to string is returned. If the length of string is less than length, a new string of the desired length is returned. The new string contains string padded with a padCharacter. If string is null, the function returns an empty string. Note: padCharacter can be a space character, but it cannot be a null value. If the length of string is equal to or greater than length, string is returned unchanged.

BitOr	Detail
Description	The BitOr function sets a specified bit on a flag to 1.
Function signature	Int BitOr(mask, flag)
Inputs	mask: A hexadecimal value that specifies the bit to set on the flag. flag: A hexadecimal value that is to have a specific bit modified.
Operations	This function converts both parameters to binary representation and compares them: Sets a bit to 1 if one or both of the corresponding bits in mask and flag are 1. Sets a bit to 0 if both of the corresponding bits are 0. Returns 1 in all cases, except where the corresponding bits of both parameters are 0. The resulting bit pattern is the "set" (1 or true) bits of any of the two operands. Multiple flag bits can be set if multiple bits have the value 1 in mask.
Output	A new version of flag with the bits specified in mask set to 1.

BitAnd	Detail
Description	The BitAnd function sets a specified bit on a flag to 0.
Function signature	Int BitOr(mask, flag)
Inputs	mask: A hexadecimal value that specifies the bit to modify on the flag. flag: A hexadecimal value that is to have a specific bit modified.
Operations	This function converts both parameters to binary representation and compares them: Sets a bit to 0 if one or both of the corresponding bits in mask and flag are 0. Sets a bit to 1 if both of the corresponding bits are 1. Returns 0 in all cases, except where the corresponding bits of both parameters are 1. Multiple flag bits can be set to 0 if multiple bits have the value 0 in mask.
Output	A new version of flag with the bits specified in mask set to 0.

DateTimeFormat	Detail
Description	The DateTimeFormat function is used to format a DateTime in string form to a specified format.
Function signature	String DateTimeFormat(dateTime, format)
Inputs	dateTime: A string representing the DateTime to format. format: A string representing the format to convert to. Note: For the characters that are accepted to create user-defined formats, see User-defined Date/Time formats.
Operations	The format string specified in format is applied to the DateTime in the dateTime string. The string specified in format must be a valid DateTime format. If it is not, an error is returned indicating that the format is not a valid DateTime format. For example: DateTime("12/25/2007", "yyyy-MM-dd") results in "2007-12-25".
Output	A string resulting from applying format to dateTime.

ConvertSidToString	Detail
Description	The ConvertSidToString converts a byte array containing a security identifier to a string.
Function signature	String ConvertSidToString(ObjectSID)
Inputs	ObjectSID: A byte array containing a security identifier (SID).
Operations	The specified binary SID is converted to a string.
Output	A string representation of the SID.

ConvertStringToGuid	Detail
Description	The ConvertStringToGuid function converts the string representation of a GUID to a binary representation of the GUID.
Function signature	Byte[] ConvertStringToGuid(stringGuid)
Inputs	stringGuid: A string formatted in the pattern xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx, where the value of the GUID is represented as a series of hexadecimal digits in groups of 8, 4, 4, 4, and 12 digits and separated by hyphens. An example of a return value is 382c74c3-721d-4f34-80e557657b6cbc27.
Operations	The stringGuid is converted to its binary representation. If the string is not a representation of a valid GUID, the function rejects the argument with the error "The parameter for the ConvertStringToGuid function must be a string representing a valid Guid."
Output	A binary representation of the GUID.

ReplaceString	Detail
Description	The ReplaceString function replaces all occurrences of a string to another string.
Function signature	String ReplaceString(string, OldValue, NewValue)
Inputs	string: The string in which to replace values. OldValue: The string to search for and to replace. NewValue: The string to replace to.
Operations	All occurrences of OldValue in the string are replaced with NewValue. The function must be able to handle the special characters \n. new line, \r. carriage return, and \t. tab. For example: ReplaceString("One\n\rMicrosoft\n\r\Way","\n\r"," ") returns "One Microsoft Way".
Output	A string with all occurrences of OldValue in the string replaced with NewValue.

Data retrieval functions

Data retrieval functions are used to perform operations that retrieve the desired characters from a string.

Word	Detail
Description	The Word function returns a word contained within a string, based on parameters describing the delimiters to use and the word number to return.
Function signature	String Word(string, number, delimiters)
Inputs	string: The string from which to return a word. number: A number identifying which word number should be returned. delimiters: A string representing the delimiters that should be used to identify words.
Operations	Each string of characters in the string that is separated by one of the characters in delimiters is identified as a word. If string is null, the function returns an empty string. The word that was found at the position specified in number is returned. If number < 1, the function returns an empty string. For example: Word("Test;of%function;", 3, ";$&%") returns "function". Word("Test;;Function" , 2 , ";") returns "" (an empty string). Word("Test;of%function;", 0, ";$&%") returns "" (an empty string).
Output	A string containing the word at the position the user asked for. If string contains less than number of words, or string does not contain any words identified by delimiters, an empty string is returned.

Left	Detail
Description	The Left function returns a specified number of characters from the left (beginning) of a string.
Function signature	String Left(string, numChars)
Inputs	string: The string from which to return characters. numChars: A number identifying the number of characters to return from the beginning of a string.
Operations	numChars characters are returned from the first position of the string. For example: Left("Britta Simon", 3) returns "Bri".
Output	A string containing the first numChars characters in the string. If numChars = 0, the function returns an empty string. If numChars < 0, the function returns an input string. If string is null, the function returns an empty string.

Right	Detail
Description	The Right function returns a specified number of characters from the right (end) of a string.
Function signature	String Right(string, numChars)
Inputs	string: The string from which to return characters. numChars: A number identifying the number of characters to return from the end of a string.
Operations	Return numChars characters from the end of the string. For example: Right("Britta Simon", 3) returns "mon".
Output	A string containing the last numChars characters in the string. If numChars = 0, the function returns an empty string. If numChars < 0, the function returns an input string. If string is null, the function returns an empty string. If string contains fewer characters than the number specified in numChars, string is returned.

Mid	Detail
Description	The Mid function returns a specified number of characters from a specified position in a string.
Function signature	String Mid(string, pos, numChars)
Inputs	string: The string from which to return characters. pos: A number identifying the starting position in a string for returning characters. numChars: A number identifying the number of characters to return from a position in the string.
Operations	Return numChars characters starting from position pos in the string. For example: Mid("Britta Simon", 3, 5) returns "itta ".
Output	A string containing numChars characters from position pos in the string. If numChars = 0, the function returns an empty string. If numChars < 0, the function returns an empty string. If pos > the length of string, the function returns an input string. If pos <= 0, the function returns an input string. If string is null, the function returns an empty string. If there are no numChar characters remaining in string from position pos, as many characters as possible are returned.

Data generation functions

Data generation functions are used to generate values for specific data types.

CRLF	Detail
Description	The CRLF function generates a Carriage Return/Line Feed. Use this function to add a new line.
Function signature	String CRLF
Inputs	None.
Operations	A CRLF is returned. For example: AddressLine1 + CRLF() + AddressLine2 results in AddressLine1 AddressLine2.
Output	A CRLF is the output.

RandomNum	Detail
Description	The RandomNum function returns a random number within a specified interval.
Function signature	Int RandomNum(start, end)
Inputs	start: A number identifying the lower limit of the random value to generate. end: A number identifying the upper limit of the random value to generate.
Operations	A random number greater than or equal to start and less than or equal to end is generated. For example: Random(0,999) might return 100.
Output	A random number within the range specified by start and end.

EscapeDNComponent	Detail
Description	The EscapeDNComponent method from MIISUtils is used to perform this operation. This method processes the input string based on the type of management agent (MA) that's being used.
Function signature	String EscapeDNComponent(string)
Inputs	string: A string that's used to process a distinguished name. The string should not contain escaped characters.
Operations	Different MAs require different distinguished name formats. This method processes the input string based on the following MA types: LDAP distinguished name: Examples of this MA type include Active Directory Domain Services, Sun Directory Server (formerly iPlanet Directory Server), and Microsoft Exchange Server. Any invalid XML characters in the value portion of a given part are hexadecimal-encoded. Any illegal characters (including invalid XML characters) in the name portion of a given part generate an error. Escaped characters include comma (,), equals (=), plus (+), less than (<), greater than (>), number (#), semi-colon (;), backslash (), and double quote ("). If the last character in the string is a space ( ), that space is escaped. Any extraneous leading or trailing spaces around a part name are removed. For the XML MA, if there are multiple parts, then the parts are alphabetized. If multiple parts are specified, the composite distinguished name string is the concatenation of the individual strings separated by plus (+) signs. An error is generated if the input string is not a well-formed, LDAP-style distinguished name string. Hierarchical non-LDAP: An example of this type of MA is Microsoft Lotus Notes. This MA type doesn't support multipart components. If multiple strings are passed to EscapeDNComponent, an ArgumentException is thrown. If any of the characters in the input string are invalid XML characters, an ArgumentException is thrown. All commas (,) and backslashes (/) in the input string are escaped. If the last character in the string is a space ( ), that space is escaped. Extrinsic: Examples of this MA type include databases or XML without an LDAP distinguished name. If any part is binary or contains an invalid XML character, that part is stored as a hexadecimal-encoded version of the raw data with a number (#) character prefixed to the front of the string. For example, if a part was AxC (where x represents an illegal XML character such as 0x10), that part is encoded as #410010004300. Otherwise, all instances of these characters are escaped: backslash (), comma (,), plus (+), and number (#). If the last character in a given part string is a space ( ), that space is escaped. If multiple parts are specified, the composite distinguished name string is the concatenation of all the individual strings separated by plus signs.
Output	A string containing a valid domain name.

Note

The validation of distinguished names is less strict than the syntax defined in the LDAP specifications. EscapeDNComponent(String[]) allows a part name to contain any combination of one or more of the characters 'a'-'z', 'A'-'Z', '0'-'9', '-', and '.'.

It's not possible to specify a binary part with this method. However, it is possible to have a binary part in CommitNewConnector if the distinguished name is constructed from anchor attributes and one of the anchor attributes is a binary type.

Null	Detail
Description	The Null function is used to specify that the MA doesn't have an attribute to contribute, and that attribute precedence should continue with the next MA.
Function signature	String Null
Inputs	None.
Operations	A Null is returned. For example: IIF(Eq(domain), "unknown", Null()) returns Null.
Output	A Null is output.

Logic Functions

Logic functions are used to perform an operation based on conditions evaluated by the system.

IIF	Detail
Description	The IIF function returns one of a set of possible values based on a specified condition.
Function signature	Object IIF(condition, valueIfTrue, valueIfFalse)
Inputs	condition: Any value or expression that can be evaluated to true or false. The following functions are available for use as expressions in the IIF function for the condition: Eq: This function compares two arguments for equality. NotEquals: This function compares two arguments for inequality, returning true if they are not equal and false if they are equal. For example: NotEquals(EmployeeType, "Contractor"). LessThan: This function compares two numbers, returning true if the first is less than the second and false otherwise. For example: LessThan(Salary, 100000). GreaterThan: This function compares two numbers, returning true if the first is greater than the second and false otherwise. For example: GreaterThan(Salary, 100000). LessThanOrEquals: This function compares two numbers, returning true if the first is less than or equal to the second and false otherwise. For example: LessThanOrEquals(Salary, 100000). GreaterThanOrEquals: This function compares two numbers, returning true if the first is greater than or is equal to the second and false otherwise. For example: GreaterThanOrEquals(Salary, 100000). IsPresent: This function takes as input an attribute in the ILM schema and returns true if the attribute is not null and false if the attribute is null. valueIfTrue: A value that is returned if the condition evaluates to true. valueIfFalse: A value that is returned if the condition evaluates to false.
Operations	If condition evaluates to true, the function returns valueIfTrue. Otherwise, the function returns valueIfFalse. For example: IIF(Eq(EmployeeType,"Intern"),"t-" + Alias, Alias) returns the alias of a user with "t-" added to the beginning of the alias if the user is an intern. Otherwise, the function returns the user’s alias as-is.
Output	The output is valueIfTrue if the condition is true, or valueIfFalse if the condition is false.