LDAP_SEARCH(3) Library Functions Manual LDAP_SEARCH(3)
NAME
ldap_search, ldap_search_s, ldap_search_st, ldap_search_ext, ldap_search_ext_s - Perform an LDAP search opera‐
tion
LIBRARY
OpenLDAP LDAP (libldap, -lldap)
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <ldap.h>
int ldap_search_ext(
LDAP *ld,
char *base,
int scope,
char *filter,
char *attrs[],
int attrsonly,
LDAPControl **serverctrls,
LDAPControl **clientctrls,
struct timeval *timeout,
int sizelimit,
int *msgidp );
int ldap_search_ext_s(
LDAP *ld,
char *base,
int scope,
char *filter,
char *attrs[],
int attrsonly,
LDAPControl **serverctrls,
LDAPControl **clientctrls,
struct timeval *timeout,
int sizelimit,
LDAPMessage **res );
DESCRIPTION
These routines are used to perform LDAP search operations. The ldap_search_ext_s() routine does the search
synchronously (i.e., not returning until the operation completes), providing a pointer to the resulting LDAP
messages at the location pointed to by the res parameter.
The ldap_search_ext() routine is the asynchronous version, initiating the search and returning the message id
of the operation it initiated in the integer pointed to by the msgidp parameter.
The base parameter is the DN of the entry at which to start the search.
The scope parameter is the scope of the search and should be one of LDAP_SCOPE_BASE, to search the object
itself, LDAP_SCOPE_ONELEVEL, to search the object's immediate children, LDAP_SCOPE_SUBTREE, to search the
object and all its descendants, or LDAP_SCOPE_CHILDREN, to search all of the descendants. Note that the lat‐
ter requires the server support the LDAP Subordinates Search Scope extension.
The filter is a string representation of the filter to apply in the search. The string should conform to the
format specified in RFC 4515 as extended by RFC 4526. For instance, "(cn=Jane Doe)". Note that use of the
extension requires the server to support the LDAP Absolute True/False Filter extension. NULL may be specified
to indicate the library should send the filter (objectClass=*).
The ldap_search_ext_s() routine is the synchronous version of ldap_search_ext().
It also returns a code indicating success or, in the case of failure, indicating the nature of the failure of
the operation. See ldap_error(3) for details.
NOTES
Note that both read and list functionality are subsumed by these routines, by using a filter like "(object‐
class=*)" and a scope of LDAP_SCOPE_BASE (to emulate read) or LDAP_SCOPE_ONELEVEL (to emulate list).
These routines may dynamically allocate memory. The caller is responsible for freeing such memory using sup‐
plied deallocation routines. Return values are contained in <ldap.h>.
Note that res parameter of ldap_search_ext_s() and ldap_search_s() should be freed with ldap_msgfree() regard‐
less of return value of these functions.
DEPRECATED INTERFACES
The ldap_search() routine is deprecated in favor of the ldap_search_ext() routine. The ldap_search_s() and
ldap_search_st() routines are deprecated in favor of the ldap_search_ext_s() routine.
Deprecated interfaces generally remain in the library. The macro LDAP_DEPRECATED can be defined to a non-zero
value (e.g., -DLDAP_DEPRECATED=1) when compiling program designed to use deprecated interfaces. It is recom‐
mended that developers writing new programs, or updating old programs, avoid use of deprecated interfaces.
Over time, it is expected that documentation (and, eventually, support) for deprecated interfaces to be elimi‐
nated.
SEE ALSO
ldap(3), ldap_result(3), ldap_error(3)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
OpenLDAP Software is developed and maintained by The OpenLDAP Project <http://www.openldap.org/>. OpenLDAP
Software is derived from University of Michigan LDAP 3.3 Release.
OpenLDAP 2.4.40 2014/09/20 LDAP_SEARCH(3)
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