The fundamental proposition of this thesis is that
(a) existing Active Directory APIs are restrictive,
that (b) a better programming approach to the
integration of Active Directory exists and that (c)
visual programming paradigms can be effectively
applied to achieve the goal of on-time software
delivery. Allowing the user to program using
domain-specific visual languages creates an intuitive
interface and, in addition, generates an underlying
framework to perform validation with security checks
on the visual elements. Such a framework stimulates
rapid application development. Since the visually
designed diagrams cannot be executed, code-generation
is necessary. Supplementary security analyses were
performed to ensure that no security vulnerabilities
would be "generated" in the source-code. Generated
code based on visual designs, is finally compiled
into a Dynamic Link Library that can be included in
existing or new applications, enabling them to use
the generated Active Directory methods. This
additional layer of abstraction allows the
application's designer to focus on user interfacing
and related tasks rather than Active Directory
programming.
(a) existing Active Directory APIs are restrictive,
that (b) a better programming approach to the
integration of Active Directory exists and that (c)
visual programming paradigms can be effectively
applied to achieve the goal of on-time software
delivery. Allowing the user to program using
domain-specific visual languages creates an intuitive
interface and, in addition, generates an underlying
framework to perform validation with security checks
on the visual elements. Such a framework stimulates
rapid application development. Since the visually
designed diagrams cannot be executed, code-generation
is necessary. Supplementary security analyses were
performed to ensure that no security vulnerabilities
would be "generated" in the source-code. Generated
code based on visual designs, is finally compiled
into a Dynamic Link Library that can be included in
existing or new applications, enabling them to use
the generated Active Directory methods. This
additional layer of abstraction allows the
application's designer to focus on user interfacing
and related tasks rather than Active Directory
programming.