[SOLVED] Script reading LDAP-Server

[borobudur]

Can someone explain me how to write a script with reads from a LDAP server, an address book to check if a contact is its birthday?

This script should run once a day and if there is a hit there should be a message.

I'm java programmer but I have never done anything on the Linux platform (well, some system programming long time ago).

Thanks for your input.

[borobudur]

*** bump ***

[borobudur]

Okay I wrote a program in Java. But how can I let it run once a day automatically?

[stumac]

You use the cron command from the command line to schedule execution of your program.

The syntax is in the man page.

[borobudur]

Thanks! I will do something like this:

crontab -e

Found this.

[borobudur]

A more convenient way is the Gnome Alarm Clock: nice user interface with an icon in the task panel.
This application would be something for the Ubuntu standard edition.

[borobudur]

If there is anyone interested in my little program, here is the result.

I have this command in a shell script:

java -cp /path/to/birthday/home Birthday

(of course you need to compile the java file, you need the runtime environment and you need to create the keystore with the keytool software if you have encrypted connection)

import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Button;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Frame;
import java.awt.Label;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.text.Format;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Date;
import java.util.Hashtable;

import javax.naming.Context;
import javax.naming.NamingEnumeration;
import javax.naming.NamingException;
import javax.naming.directory.DirContext;
import javax.naming.directory.InitialDirContext;
import javax.naming.directory.SearchControls;
import javax.naming.directory.SearchResult;


/*
 *  Calls the ldap server and checks if there is a contacts with its 
 *  birthday today.
 *  The result will be shown in a little window.
 *  
 *  @autor Stefan Wagner
 */
public class Birthday extends Frame implements ActionListener {

    /*
     *  Constructor sets the window visible.
     */
    public Birthday(String title, String msg) {
        super(title);
        setBackground(Color.lightGray);
        setLayout(new BorderLayout());
        setResizable(false);
        setLocation(100, 100);
        setSize(100, 100);
        add(new Label(msg), BorderLayout.CENTER);
        Button btn = new Button("OK");
        btn.addActionListener(this);
        add(btn, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
        pack();
        setVisible(true);
    }

    /**
     * Programs starting point.
     */
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        try {
           Hashtable env = new Hashtable();
           
           env.put(Context.INITIAL_CONTEXT_FACTORY, "com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtxFactory");
           env.put(Context.PROVIDER_URL, "ldaps://subdomain.dyndns.org:636/");  
           env.put(Context.SECURITY_PRINCIPAL, "uid=user,ou=users,dc=subdomain,dc=dyndns,dc=org");  
           env.put(Context.SECURITY_CREDENTIALS, "passwd"); 
           env.put(Context.SECURITY_AUTHENTICATION, "simple");
           env.put(Context.SECURITY_PROTOCOL, "ssl");
           
           //THE LOCATION OF THE CACERTS MUST BE SPECIFIED
           java.security.Security.addProvider(new com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.Provider());
           System.setProperty("javax.net.ssl.keyStore",  "keystore");
           System.setProperty("javax.net.ssl.trustStore","keystore");
           
           DirContext ctx = new InitialDirContext(env);
           SearchControls ctls = new SearchControls();
           NamingEnumeration answer = ctx.search("o=user,ou=addressbook,dc=subdomain,dc=dyndns,dc=org", "birthDate=" + getDateToday(), ctls);

           new Birthday("Birthday", formatResults(answer));
      
           // Close the context when we're done
           ctx.close();

         } catch(NamingException ne) {
           System.err.println(ne);
           ne.printStackTrace();
         } catch (Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
         }

    }

    /*
     *  Action of the button: end programm.
     */
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
        setVisible(false);
        dispose();
    }

    /*
     *  Returns the date (without the year) from today in evolution format.
     */
    private static String getDateToday() {
           Format formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("*-MM-dd");
           return formatter.format(new Date());
    }

    /*
     *  Formats the answer from the server.
     */
    public static String formatResults(NamingEnumeration searchResult) throws Exception{
        String res = "";
            try {
                while (searchResult.hasMore()) {
                    SearchResult sr = (SearchResult)searchResult.next();
                    res += sr.getName() + "\n";
               }

            } catch (NamingException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
        
            if ("".equals(res)) {
                res = "Today is nobodys birthday.";
            }
            
        return res;
    }

}