Finding Active Directory Objects - SystemTools

Finding Active Directory Objects

Active Directory has a built-in method to find and filter objects in the directory.  The 'Find' dialog is typically found in various Windows 200x/XP MMC applications.  Hyena adds two important features to this standard dialog: The capability to save the queries to a file, which can then be used either from within Hyena or from within Windows Explorer, and the capability to return the results of the standard Active Directory Find dialog back to Hyena.

 

Saving Active Directory 'Find' Queries

 

To save a Find/Filter Active Directory query, first display the Find dialog by selecting Find... from the context menu for any Containers/OUs object, or from any OU/container.  After displaying the objects in the Find dialog, select File->Save Search, and enter in a file/path to save the query to.  The resulting file will have an extension of .QDS, and can be simply double-clicked in either Hyena or Windows Explorer.    This will run the query and display the results in the lower portion of the Find dialog.

 

Another way that these saved queries can be used is to save them into a central directory, and use the Object Manager's Directory Path object to access the queries quickly.   Note that right clicking on any object in the lower portion of the Find dialog will display the standard Active Directory context menu options.

 

Limitation: The context menu that can be accessed on objects in the Find dialog does not contain Rename and Remove options.  This appears to be a Microsoft limitation.

 

Returning the Results of the 'Find' Dialog back to Hyena

 

Hyena can also capture and display the results of the Active Directory 'Find' dialog.  This provides access to Hyena's own functions and the standard Microsoft functions as well on the returned objects.  To use this feature, first display the Find dialog by selecting Find... from the context menu for any Containers/OUs object, or from any OU/container.  After displaying the objects in the Find dialog, select one or more objects in the lower window, then click OK.

 

The resulting set of objects will then be displayed in Hyena's right window.