Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Writable Contact Lists With Outlook and LDAP?

Posted by Cliff on from the hacking-in-the-write-perms dept.

Snafoo asks: "Ximian Evolution allows users to set up LDAP-based shared contact lists, to which multiple users can read and write. However, my company uses MS Outlook 2002, which doesn't support writing to LDAP directories. Currently, we use a kludgy PHP front-end to the LDAP directory for entering new addresses. Short of buying Exchange, is there anything we can do to share write-enabled contact lists with LDAP and Outlook?"

4 of 39 comments (clear)

  1. Write a plugin for Outlook by Kj0n · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Can't you write a plugin for Outlook that synchronizes the local address book (or a subfolder of it) with the LDAP directory?

    Disadvantage: the contacts are also present in the address book of Outlook.

    Advantage: the contacts are always available, even when the LDAP directory is not accessible (interesting for travelling users).

    1. Re:Write a plugin for Outlook by Mark+Pitman · · Score: 2, Interesting

      There is another way! Use Outlook Redemption. This COM object does all the Extended MAPI stuff for you and is very easy to use. I have used it from VB 6 and also C#. This guy also has another tool on his site called Outlook Spy which is pretty handy.

  2. Mozilla? by Kiaser+Zohsay · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Mozilla Mail/Minotaur/Thunderbird has LDAP support, and the Mozilla LDAP SDK supports write access, so it might actually work. I have used Mozilla Mail as my primary email client since April of 2000 (M15 or so) but not with LDAP. Try it, it just might work.

    --
    I am not your blowing wind, I am the lightning.
  3. aldap is what you're looking for by castlemonkey · · Score: 2, Interesting
    From aldap on freshmeat.

    " aldap is designed as a groupware, Web-based, central contact manager. It can supplement end-users' personal address books or stand alone. It includes Perl scripts to create an empty LDAP tree ready for data entry, or if you have an existing Outlook contact database, import them easily. Its features include Add Organizational Units, Add entry, Search, View, Print, Modify, Delete, VCard export, Outlook conversion tools, plenty of end user help, and more."

    As the creator of aldap I can tell you there's people using it on OSX, Windows, and Unix / GNU Linux systems. A live demo is available on the the project home page.

    --
    -- I've spent 30 min of company time trying to think of a good sig. You can imagine how good my passwords are.