LDAP
User’s Manual
142
The attribute types are used to create search filters. There are six types
of basic search filters and the syntax of the filters is in the
<attribute><operator><value> format. Complex search filters can
easily be constructed by combining these basic search filters and other
complex filters using the Boolean operations AND, OR and NOT. The
six basic filter components are presented in the table below:
Attribute Type
Matches
objectClass
Describes the kind of object which the entry represents.
cn
Contains the name of an object. If the object is a person,
it is typically the person’s full name.
sn
Contains the family name of a person.
c
Contains a two-letter country code.
l
Contains the name of a locality, such as a city, county or
other geographic region.
st
Contains the full name of a state or province.
street
Contains the physical address of the object to which the
entry corresponds, such as an address for package
delivery.
o
Contains the name of an organization.
ou
Contains the name of an organization unit.
title
This attribute contains the title, such as “Vice President”,
of a person within an organization.
Filter Type
Format
Example
Matches
Equality
(<attr>=<value>)
(sn=Smith)
Surnames
exactly equal to
Smith.
Approximate
(<attr>~=<value>)
(sn~=Smitt)
Surnames
approximately
equal to Smitt
(for example,
that sounds like
Smitt - note the
misspelling).
Substring
(<attr>=<leading>]*<
any>]*<trailing>])
(sn=*smith*)
Surnames
containing the
string “smith”.
(sn=smith*)
Surnames
starting with
“smith”.
