What information does TED contain?

TED contains identity and affiliation information about the people associated with UT Austin and some UT component institutions. It contains an entry for every valid record in the uTexas Identity Manager (TIM). These entries contain information that is organized into a schema of data attributes. This schema defines the names for data attributes, the format of the data attributes, and the attributes that can be used as search keys in TED. This schema is described in detail on the TED Directory Schema. The data attributes that are populated for specific person vary depending on the person's current affiliation with UT Austin and with the data available from the source systems that feed TED.

Importantly, the data in TED represents the current state of the record. A few attribute values (such as Prior EID) contain historical information to aid in finding the correct record when identifiers have been changed. Otherwise, TED does not contain historical or transactional information.

Where does the data come from?

The data in TED is derived from many sources, including the uTexas Identity Manager (TIM), the Office of the Registrar (via Academic Information Systems), and Human Resources Services (via Enterprise Business IT Solutions). TED is not the authoritative or official source system for any data - it is only a compilation of information from other systems.

How often is TED updated?

Most of the data in TED is updated on a nightly basis. Some attributes are updated on a near-real-time basis. These include UT EID itself, UT EID status, affiliations, and entitlements.

Who can access TED?

TED is a restricted directory service for internal university use only. Prior authorization is required before users and services can access TED. Restrictions on the use of TED are described in the TED Acceptable Use Policy, with which all users and services must comply.

What kinds of searches are supported by TED?

The data attributes that are available as search criteria are described on the TED Directory Schema. In general, TED should be used to retrieve information for a specific person rather than for large groups. For example, a good use of TED is to answer questions such as, "What is the affiliation of Person A with UT Austin?" or "What is Student B's official major?" An inappropriate search request would be, "Who are all the students at UT Austin?" To discourage directory trolling and to maintain performance levels for other users, TED enforces limits on processing time and the number of records retrieved for a particular search.

How is the data in TED organized?

The data in TED is organized by entity groups in a tree structure. For example, all person entities are stored in the "ou=people" subtree. The diagram below illustrates the current directory structure.