.TH LDIF 5  "13 November 1995" "U-M LDAP LDVERSION"
.SH NAME
ldif \- LDAP Data Interchange Format
.SH DESCRIPTION
The LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF) is used to represent LDAP
entries in text form. The
.BR ldif2ldbm (8)
tools can be used to convert from LDIF format to the LDBM format
used by
.BR slapd (8).
The
.BR ldbmcat (8)
tool can be used to do the reverse conversion. See "The SLAPD and
SLURPD Administrator's Guide" for more information on this format and
the conversion tools.
.LP
The basic form of an LDIF entry is:
.LP
.nf
.ft tt
	[<id>]
	dn: <distinguished name>
	<attrtype>: <attrvalue>
	<attrtype>: <attrvalue>
	...
.ft
.fi
.LP
where <id> is the optional entry ID (a positive decimal number).
Normally, you would not supply the <id>, allowing the database creation
tools to do that for you. The
.BR ldbmcat (8)
program, however, produces an LDIF format that includes <id> so that
new indexes created will be consistent with the existing database.  A
line may be continued by starting the next line with a single space or
tab character, e.g.,
.LP
.nf
.ft tt
	dn: cn=Barbara J Jensen, o=University of Michi
	 gan, c=US
.ft
.fi
.LP
Multiple attribute values are specified on separate lines, e.g.,
.LP
.nf
.ft tt
	cn: Barbara J Jensen
	cn: Babs Jensen
.ft
.fi
.LP
If an <attrvalue> contains a non-printing character, or begins with a
space or a colon ':', the <attrtype> is followed by a double colon and
the value is encoded in base 64 notation. e.g., the value " begins with
a space" would be encoded like this:
.LP
.nf
.ft tt
	cn:: IGJlZ2lucyB3aXRoIGEgc3BhY2U=
.ft
.fi
.LP
Multiple entries within the same LDIF file are separated by blank
lines.
.SH EXAMPLE
Here is an example of an LDIF file containing three entries.
.LP
.nf
.ft tt
	dn: cn=Barbara J Jensen, o=University of Michi
	 gan, c=US
	cn: Barbara J Jensen
	cn: Babs Jensen
	objectclass: person
	sn: Jensen

	dn: cn=Bjorn J Jensen, o=University of Michi
	 gan, c=US
	cn: Bjorn J Jensen
	cn: Bjorn Jensen
	objectclass: person
	sn: Jensen

	dn: cn=Jennifer J Jensen, o=University of Michi
	 gan, c=US
	cn: Jennifer J Jensen
	cn: Jennifer Jensen
	objectclass: person
	sn: Jensen
	jpegPhoto:: /9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAAAAAQABAAD/2wBDABALD
	 A4MChAODQ4SERATGCgaGBYWGDEjJR0oOjM9PDkzODdASFxOQ
	 ERXRTc4UG1RV19iZ2hnPk1xeXBkeFxlZ2P/2wBDARESEhgVG
	...
.ft
.fi
.LP
Notice that the jpegPhoto in Jennifer Jensen's entry is encoded using
base 64.
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR ldap (3),
.BR slapd (8),
.BR ldif2ldbm (8),
.BR ldbmcat (8)
.LP
"The SLAPD and SLURPD Administrator's Guide"