1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to data processing and, in particular, to a data processing system and method for creating accounts in a network. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a data processing system and method that automate account creation in a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Companies and other organizations now frequently utilize local area networks (LANs) to perform many essential business functions, for example, file sharing, routing intra-office information, calendaring, data processing, printing, etc. When an organization expands its communication capabilities by obtaining access to an additional network such as the Internet or World Wide Web, it is often desirable to provide an individual account on the new network for each of number of users of the LAN.
Heretofore, the process of creating individual accounts on the new network was laborious and involved manually entering into a computer each individual username or user ID for which an account was to be created. Thus, the conventional method of account creation is very time consuming in cases in which numerous accounts are to be established and is prone to human error in entering the selected usernames or user IDs. It would therefore be useful and desirable to provide an improved method of account creation in a network that addresses these shortcomings.