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Q146293: XADM: Auto-naming Feature Doesn’t Work with Directory Import

Article: Q146293
Product(s): Microsoft Exchange
Version(s): 4.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbusage
Last Modified: 15-MAR-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Exchange Server, version 4.0 
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SYMPTOMS
========

The Auto Naming screen of the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program states:

  Auto naming rules lets you customize the display name. . . for new
  mailboxes.

The online help for this topic states:

  Use Auto Naming Options to control the way display and alias names
  for mailboxes and custom recipients are automatically generated.

However, when you migrate users from ccMail to Microsoft Exchange and specify a
template for the format of user accounts, the template will not be used.

CAUSE
=====

A fixed rule for building default values for Display-Name and Mail-Nickname was
being used, instead of using the Administrator program autotext format strings.

STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server
version 4.0. This problem was corrected in the latest Microsoft Exchange Service
Pack. For information on obtaining the Service Pack, query on the following word
in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):

  S E R V P A C K

MORE INFORMATION
================

Default generation of Display-Name and Alias-Name when not specified has been
changed to be as much like the Administrator program as possible. When the
import occurs, the Admin options value is read from the registry at:

  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange\ 
  MSExchangeAdminCommon:Options

and the AutoText format strings for generating Display-Name and Alias-Names are
extracted from it. If these values are not specified, are not readable, or are
specified as constant strings, the default format strings are used.

The default strings are: Display Name = "%First %Last" and Alias Name =
"%First%1Last". For each entry created, if there is no value specified for
Display-Name or Mail-Nickname, a default value is constructed according to the
rule obtained above. If the registry parameter holds a constant literal string,
the Common-Name is used.

NOTE: This does NOT apply to modifications, only creating new entries. Also, to
fall inline with the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program, the method used
to get a default value for Assoc-NT-Account has been slightly modified: if no
value is specified for either Assoc-NT-Account or Obj-User, the Mail-Nickname is
used (either as specified or as constructed). The former behaviour was to use
the value specified for the Common-Name.

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Keywords          : kbusage 
Technology        : kbExchangeSearch kbExchange400 kbZNotKeyword2
Version           : 4.0

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