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[higgins-dev] Sameness of Contexts
We've mentioned the notion of two providers being used to access the same Context a number of times. It makes me ask myself what constitutes sameness among contexts.
 
Referring to the context examples at the bottom of this mail, I don't know which are the same context, and which are different:
 
ex1 and ex2 both use LDAP, both start at the same place in the LDAP server's tree, both use the same AuthN materials. Difference is vendor. Let's say the IBM provider maps attributes quite differently than the Novell provider, and the Novell provider follows referrals whereas the IBM provider cannot, thus it's view of the tree is chopped. These may look quite different from the IdAS consumer's POV.
 
ex2 and ex3 differ only in protocol. Let's say both present the data model exactly the same and have the same capabilities.
 
ex4 uses different AuthN materials, with the implication being that a different set of data will be exposed (anon cannot see privileged data).
 
ex5 points to a different host. It's assumed that this host is a replica of eDirLDAPServer.com. The only problem is that replication between these two hosts is loosely consistent. There's no guaranty that the data is ever exactly the same among replicas.
 
Maybe we're saying a context is defined by its Context Reference (URI). So, whatever the URI contains or points at must be what constitutes a context. If that's the case, we're back to the "what's in the URI?" question
 
 
ex1:
Provider Implementor = IBM
Factory = IBM LDAP factory
Protocol = LDAP
Host = eDirServer.com
Base = ou=employees.dc=ibm,dc=com
AuthN = superuser and credentials
 
ex2:
Provider Implementor = Novell
Factory = Novell LDAP factory
Protocol = LDAP
Host = eDirServer.com
Base = ou=employees.dc=ibm,dc=com
AuthN = superuser and credentials
 
ex3:
Provider Implementor = Novell
Factory = Novell NDAP factory (NOTE: different protocol, same backing data)
Protocol = NDAP
Host = eDirServer.com
Base = ou=employees.dc=ibm,dc=com
AuthN = superuser and credentials
 
ex4:
Provider Implementor = Novell
Factory = Novell LDAP factory
Protocol = LDAP
Host = eDirServer.com
Base = ou=employees.dc=ibm,dc=com
AuthN = anon
 
ex5:
Provider Implementor = Novell
Factory = Novell LDAP factory
Protocol = LDAP
Host = eDirServer2.com
Base = ou=employees.dc=ibm,dc=com
AuthN = superuser and credentials

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