Programming Directory Services with Microsoft .NET and XML

As many of you know, I wrote a popular developers book on Active Directory for Microsoft Press titled Microsoft Windows 2000 Active Directory Programming.  When it was published in April 2001, I pleaded with Microsoft Press to not put “Windows 2000” into the title of the book, as it would seem obsolete when the next version of the Windows Server came out.

In June of 2002, I was approached by the Directory Services documentation team and contracted to write the follow up book, focusing on the .NET platform and DSML.  At the time, I was in the process of managing the Flight Across America, so authoring didn't start until November 2002.  Working as a vendor to Microsoft - as opposed to a independent author - was challenging and unique.  The "NetDS" folks are great and have made huge strides improving the developer documentation for Windows directory services.

Progress was slow the first half of 2003 due to a series of set-backs.  I traveled often to be with my father who had taken ill in January.  On May 23, he passed on.  In June, my mother developed lung cancer and I eventually brought her out to the Pacific Northwest in August to live with me and help me manage her care.

With two-thirds of the book complete, Microsoft Press reevaluated the potential sales and decided against publication.  The window of opportunity was closing and the book was looking like it wouldn't hit stores until the end of the year.  Like the rest of the industry, MSP is under serious pressure to produce revenue and is focusing on sure-fire titles.  I can't blame them for canceling publication.  At least I got paid for each finished chapter, not like many of the WROX authors who didn't receive anything for their efforts.

The work I completed is owned by Microsoft and I'm told that it may make it into doc set in the form of white papers or such.  I hope so, because I believe that there is lack of good programming texts on Active Directory.  While there are some excellent titles by good authors, too often they focus on a particular programming language or don't take into account the latest technology.

I liked writing programming books, although it was slow going.  Crafting words and arranging thoughts into actionable sentences is a rewarding challenge.  Writing the sample code was equally as fun.  I'm sure I'll do more authoring in the future.

I have dozens of source code samples, most written in C# that demonstrate the classes of the System.DirectoryServices namespace.  If there is interest, I'll figure out a way to put them on-line.  Contact me.