System.DirectoryServices Namespace

Provides easy access to Active Directory Domain Services from managed code. The namespace contains two component classes, DirectoryEntry and DirectorySearcher, which use the Active Directory Services Interfaces (ADSI) technology. ADSI is the set of interfaces that Microsoft provides as a flexible tool for working with a variety of network providers. ADSI gives the administrator the ability to locate and manage resources on a network with relative ease, regardless of the size of the network.

Classes

ActiveDirectoryAccessRule	The ActiveDirectoryAccessRule class is used to represent an access control entry (ACE) in the discretionary access control list (DACL) of an Active Directory Domain Services object.
ActiveDirectoryAuditRule	The ActiveDirectoryAuditRule is used to set an access control entry (ACE) on a system access control list (SACL). The ActiveDirectoryAccessRule contains the trustee, which is represented as an IdentityReference object. It also contains information about the access control type, access mask, and other properties such as inheritance flags. This rule is set on an ActiveDirectorySecurity object. After the ActiveDirectorySecurity is committed to the directory store, it will modify the security descriptor object according to the rules that are set on ActiveDirectoryAuditRule.
ActiveDirectorySecurity	Uses the object security layer of the managed ACL library to wrap access control functionality for directory objects.
CreateChildAccessRule	The CreateChildAccessRule class represents a specific type of access rule that is used to allow or deny an Active Directory Domain Services object the right to create child objects.
DeleteChildAccessRule	The DeleteChildAccessRule class represents a specific type of access rule that is used to allow or deny an Active Directory Domain Services object the right to delete child objects.
DeleteTreeAccessRule	The DeleteTreeAccessRule class represents a specific type of access rule that is used to allow or deny an Active Directory Domain Services object the right to delete all child objects, regardless of the permissions that the child objects have.
DirectoryEntries	Contains a collection of DirectoryEntry objects.
DirectoryEntry	The DirectoryEntry class encapsulates a node or object in the Active Directory Domain Services hierarchy.
DirectoryEntryConfiguration	The DirectoryEntryConfiguration class provides a direct way to specify and obtain provider-specific options for manipulating a directory object. Typically, the options apply to search operations of the underlying directory store. The supported options are provider-specific.
DirectorySearcher	Performs queries against Active Directory Domain Services.
DirectoryServicesCOMException	Contains extended error information about an error that occurred when the Invoke(String, Object[]) method is called.
DirectoryServicesPermission	The DirectoryServicesPermission class allows you to control code access security permissions for System.DirectoryServices.
DirectoryServicesPermissionAttribute	Allows declarative System.DirectoryServices permission checks.
DirectoryServicesPermissionEntry	The DirectoryServicesPermissionEntry class defines the smallest unit of a code access security permission set for System.DirectoryServices.
DirectoryServicesPermissionEntryCollection	Contains a strongly-typed collection of DirectoryServicesPermissionEntry objects.
DirectorySynchronization	Specifies how to synchronize a directory within a domain.
DirectoryVirtualListView	The DirectoryVirtualListView class specifies how to conduct a virtual list view search. A virtual list view search enables users to view search results as address-book style virtual list views. It is specifically designed for very large result sets. Search data is retrieved in contiguous subsets of a sorted directory search.
DirectoryVirtualListViewContext	Specifies how to construct directory virtual list view response.
ExtendedRightAccessRule	Represents a specific type of access rule that is used to allow or deny an Active Directory object an extended right. Extended rights are special operations that are not covered by the standard set of access rights. An example of an extended right is Send-As, which gives a user the right to send email for another user. For a list of possible extended rights, see the Extended Rights article. For more information about extended rights, see the Control Access Rights.
ListChildrenAccessRule	The ListChildrenAccessRule class represents a specific type of access rule that is used to allow or deny an Active Directory Domain Services object the right to list child objects.
PropertyAccessRule	The PropertyAccessRule class represents a specific type of access rule that is used to allow or deny access to an Active Directory Domain Services property.
PropertyCollection	The PropertyCollection class contains the properties of a DirectoryEntry.
PropertySetAccessRule	The PropertySetAccessRule class represents a specific type of access rule that is used to allow or deny access to an Active Directory Domain Services property set. For a list of property sets that are defined for Active Directory Domain Services, see the Property Sets article.
PropertyValueCollection	Contains the values of a DirectoryEntry property.
ResultPropertyCollection	Contains the properties of a SearchResult instance.
ResultPropertyValueCollection	Contains the values of a SearchResult property.
SchemaNameCollection	Contains a list of the schema names that the SchemaFilter property of a DirectoryEntries object can use.
SearchResult	The SearchResult class encapsulates a node in the Active Directory Domain Services hierarchy that is returned during a search through DirectorySearcher.
SearchResultCollection	The SearchResultCollection class contains the SearchResult instances that the Active Directory hierarchy returned during a DirectorySearcher query.
SortOption	Specifies how to sort the results of a search.

Enums

ActiveDirectoryRights	The ActiveDirectoryRights enumeration specifies the access rights that are assigned to an Active Directory Domain Services object.
ActiveDirectorySecurityInheritance	The ActiveDirectorySecurityInheritance enumeration specifies if, and how, ACE information is applied to an object and its descendents.
AuthenticationTypes	The AuthenticationTypes enumeration specifies the types of authentication used in System.DirectoryServices. This enumeration has a FlagsAttribute attribute that allows a bitwise combination of its member values.
DereferenceAlias	The DereferenceAlias enumeration specifies how aliases are resolved. This enumeration provides values for the DerefAlias property.
DirectoryServicesPermissionAccess	The DirectoryServicesPermissionAccess enumeration defines access levels that are used by System.DirectoryServices permission classes. This enumeration has a FlagsAttribute attribute that allows a bitwise combination of its member values.
DirectorySynchronizationOptions	Contains flags that determine how directories within a domain will be synchronized. These options can be set for the Option property.
ExtendedDN	The ExtendedDN enumeration specifies the format in which to return the extended distinguished name. This enumeration is used with the ExtendedDN property.
PasswordEncodingMethod	Specifies whether SSL is used when you set or change a password. This enumeration is used with the PasswordEncoding property.
PropertyAccess	The PropertyAccess enumeration is used with the PropertyAccessRule and PropertySetAccessRule classes to indicate the type of access that is applied to an Active Directory property or property set.
ReferralChasingOption	The ReferralChasingOption enumeration specifies if and how referral chasing is pursued.
SearchScope	Specifies the possible scopes for a directory search that is performed using the DirectorySearcher object.
SecurityMasks	Specifies the available options for examining security information of a directory object. This enumeration is used with the SecurityMasks and SecurityMasks properties.
SortDirection	The SortDirection enumeration specifies how to sort the results of an Active Directory Domain Services query.

Remarks

The classes in this namespace can be used with any of the Active Directory Domain Services service providers. The current providers are: Internet Information Services (IIS), Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), Novell NetWare Directory Service (NDS), and WinNT.

ADSI is a programmatic interface for Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services that enables your applications to interact with diverse directories on a network using a single interface. Using ADSI, you can create applications that perform common tasks, such as backing up databases, accessing printers, and administering user accounts.

It is assumed that you have a general understanding of Active Directory Domain Services before using these classes. For more information on Active Directory Domain Services, see the following topics:

• Using Active Directory Domain Services

• Active Directory Service Interfaces

• Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

• Implementing Active Directory Service Interfaces Providers

• Binding to an ADSI Object

• IADsOpenDSObject::OpenDSObject

Active Directory Domain Services use a tree structure. Each node in the tree contains a set of properties. Use this namespace to traverse, search, and modify the tree, and read and write to the properties of a node.

The DirectoryEntry class encapsulates a node or object in the Active Directory Domain Services hierarchy. Use this class for binding to objects, reading properties, and updating attributes. Together with helper classes, DirectoryEntry provides support for life-cycle management and navigation methods, including creating, deleting, renaming, moving a child node, and enumerating children.

Use the DirectorySearcher class to perform queries against the Active Directory Domain Services hierarchy. LDAP is the only system-supplied Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) provider that supports searching.

A search of the Active Directory Domain Services hierarchy through DirectorySearcher returns instances of SearchResult, which are contained in an instance of the SearchResultCollection class.