[development] Authmap explanation

[Moshe Weitzman]

> I seem to gather from the limited info I can
> find<http://drupal.org/node/22268>that it's used to simple store user
> data in another, possibly non-drupal
> database on the same database server... am I right?  If so, how do I 
> tell it
> which table in that database, and which field in that table, maps to user
> name, etc.?  Or, is it used to simply allow multiple drupal instances to 
> use
> the same user base?

yes, it is a mapping between the drupal userid and an external userid. the 
decision of what table and what column in the external system is entirely up 
to the module which 'owns' the authmap record. see the 'module' column of 
authmap table. that module has logic either hard coded or in settings about 
connection details to foreign system. hope that makes sense.