CONFIGURING
You create a condensed directory catalog from the Directory Catalog template (DIRCAT5.NTF). For example, an organization can have several directories that together contain more than 350,000 users and total 3GB in size. When these directories are aggregated in a condensed directory catalog, it is likely to be only about 50MB.
Note: Using a condensed directory catalog on a server is no longer supported.
In general, each user and group entry is slightly more than 100 bytes. To achieve its small size, a condensed directory catalog uses a unique design that combines multiple documents from the Domino® directories into single documents in the directory catalog, and that limits the number of sorted views available for lookups.
Aggregate documents
One reason a condensed directory catalog is small is it combines many entries from the source Domino directories into single aggregate documents. A single directory catalog aggregate document can contain up to 250 source directory entries, although on average the maximum is about 200. This means that a condensed directory catalog needs to use only about 1000 aggregate documents to store information from 200,000 documents in the source Domino directories.
Limited number of views
A condensed directory catalog is also small because it contains only a few, small views. By contrast a Domino Directory and an extended directory catalog have multiple, typically large views.
$Users view This is the one view used in a condensed directory catalog for name lookups. When you configure the directory catalog you choose how to sort this view, either by distinguished name, by last name, or by alternate name. To find names that don't correspond to the selected sort order, a full-text search is done of the directory catalog rather than a view lookup.
You shouldn't open the aggregate documents in the $$Users view view manually; these documents are not intended for viewing, and it can take a considerable amount of time to format them for that purpose.
$Unid view This view contains information needed by the Dircat task to replicate the source directory entries into the directory catalog. The $Unid view isn't created on replicas of the directory catalog, which further reduces the directory catalog size.
$PeopleGroupsFlat view This view displays directory names when Notes® users click the Address button to browse directories.
Configuration view This view shows the Configuration document that contains the directory catalog configuration settings.
Users view This is a view that users can open and programs can access to see the names included in the directory catalog. This view is not stored on disk but is instead built as needed.
Design changes
In general, you should not change the database design of a condensed directory catalog. One exception is changing the name of the Users view; you can change the name of this view, as long as you keep the original view name, Users, as an alias.
Application access
Notes applications can use these methods to access a condensed directory catalog programmatically:
Note: You can't use NIFOpenNote to open notes passed back from NIFReadEntries; you must call NIFOpenNote instead.
Related tasks Benefits of condensed directory catalogs on clients