metadata UI displayname and multiple application overrides

[Tom Scavo]

On Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 10:57 AM, Jeff Silverman <jeff at moodlerooms.com> wrote:
>
> It may be that we are the only ones using our SP in this way (described
> below). I some questions about the <mdui:DisplayName>. I hope the questions
> are broadly relevant.

I know for a fact that there are many SPs in InCommon metadata that
will have exactly the same questions that you do.

> We use ApplicationOverrides to have the SP treat different Apache
> VirtualHosts differently. We don't use multiple SP's. We sell hosting
> services to different customers using the same SP and the
> ApplicationOverride takes care of making each customer's service look like
> their own service, and no one else's.

Different customers ==> different user interfaces ==> separate SPs

> My concern is that newly required MDUI element "DisplayName" does not make
> sense in the above described context.

You're right, it doesn't make sense.

>  - Since the InCommon SP metadata now requires this field
> (<mdui:DisplayName>), is there a way to override it on a per-app basis?

SAML metadata permits multiple AttributeConsumingService elements,
each with its own ServiceName, but we only support ONE
AttributeConsumingService element (sync'd with the MDUI elements) and
I don't see this changing any time soon. Support for multiple
AttributeConsumingService elements is fraught with difficulty.

>  - Or should I just fill it in as generically as possible?

We already use the SP entityID in lieu of DisplayName but that's ugly
(and that's a major reason why DisplayName is now required). Supplying
a "generic" name is probably not a good solution to this problem.

>  - Or should I not even worry about it at all, since the app is never going
> to use this data anyway?

Some apps already do, and more are being developed and/or planned.

>  - Or should I not even worry about it at all, since end users will never
> see this data anyway?

Users can already see your metadata ;-)

https://incommon.org/federation/info/all-orgs.html

We are hoping that SPs (especially commercial SPs) will leverage the
above pages to promote their products and services.

> (btw, my solution for now is to use as generic a name as possible)

Keep in mind that the InCommon RA vets the MDUI DisplayName for
reasonableness. If the submitted DisplayName is not, you'll probably
hear about it.

Tom