RFC 2252 (rfc2252) - Page 2 of 32
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3): Attribute Syntax Definitions
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 2252 LADPv3 Attributes December 1997 c. to avoid delaying the advancement and deployment of other Internet standards-track protocols which require the ability to query, but not update, LDAPv3 directory servers. Readers are hereby warned that until mandatory authentication mechanisms are standardized, clients and servers written according to this specification which make use of update functionality are UNLIKELY TO INTEROPERATE, or MAY INTEROPERATE ONLY IF AUTHENTICATION IS REDUCED TO AN UNACCEPTABLY WEAK LEVEL. Implementors are hereby discouraged from deploying LDAPv3 clients or servers which implement the update functionality, until a Proposed Standard for mandatory authentication in LDAPv3 has been approved and published as an RFC. 2. Abstract The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) [1] requires that the contents of AttributeValue fields in protocol elements be octet strings. This document defines a set of syntaxes for LDAPv3, and the rules by which attribute values of these syntaxes are represented as octet strings for transmission in the LDAP protocol. The syntaxes defined in this document are referenced by this and other documents that define attribute types. This document also defines the set of attribute types which LDAP servers should support. 3. Overview This document defines the framework for developing schemas for directories accessible via the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. Schema is the collection of attribute type definitions, object class definitions and other information which a server uses to determine how to match a filter or attribute value assertion (in a compare operation) against the attributes of an entry, and whether to permit add and modify operations. Section 4 states the general requirements and notations for attribute types, object classes, syntax and matching rule definitions. Section 5 lists attributes, section 6 syntaxes and section 7 object classes. Additional documents define schemas for representing real-world objects as directory entries. Wahl, et. al. Standards Track



