Overview[1]#
Constructed Attribute is a term used by Microsoft Active Directory however they appear to be what we and most others refer to them as Virtual Attributes
We have also seen Microsoft use the term Forward Reference or BackLink used but as far as we know, both there terms are the same as Virtual Attribute
Individual Constructed Attribute, other than rootDSE Attributes, are specified in [MS-ADA1], [MS-ADA2], and [MS-ADA3].
But briefly, Constructed Attribute have the property that they are attributes for which the Attribute Value is computed by using other attributes, sometimes from other objects.
Regardless of this property, Constructed Attribute are defined to be those attributes that meet one of the following three criteria:
- The attributeSchema object's SystemFlags attribute has the FLAG_ATTR_IS_CONSTRUCTED bit (section 2.2.10) set to one.
- The attribute is a rootDSE attribute (see section 3.1.1.3.2
).
- The attribute is a BackLink attribute.
Except as otherwise noted, these constructed attributes are applicable to both AD DS and AD LDS.
More Information#
There might be more information for this subject on one of the following:- Active Directory Schema Related LDAP Searches
- FLAG_ATTR_IS_CONSTRUCTED
- ModifyTimestamp
- MsDS-User-Account-Control-Computed
- Retrieving Constructed Attributes
- Virtual Attribute
- WhenChanged
- X-SYSTEMFLAGS
- [#1] - 3.1.1.4.5 Constructed Attributes - based on information obtained 2014-10-12
