.TH LDIF 5 "22 September 1998" "OpenLDAP LDVERSION"
.\" $OpenLDAP$
.\" Copyright 1998-2000 The OpenLDAP Foundation All Rights Reserved.
.\" Copying restrictions apply.  See COPYRIGHT/LICENSE.
.SH NAME
ldif \- LDAP Data Interchange Format
.SH DESCRIPTION
The LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF) is used to represent LDAP
entries in text form. LDAP tools, such as
.BR ldapadd (1)
and
.BR ldapsearch (1),
read and write LDIF.
.LP
The basic form of an LDIF entry is:
.LP
.nf
.ft tt
	dn: <distinguished name>
	<attrdesc>: <attrvalue>
	<attrdesc>: <attrvalue>
	<attrdesc>:: <base64-encoded-value>
	<attrdesc>:< <URL>
	...
.ft
.fi
.LP
The value may be specified as UTF-8 text or as base64 encoded data,
or a URI may be provided to the location of the attribute value.
.LP
A line may be continued by starting the next line with a single space
or tab, e.g.,
.LP
.nf
.ft tt
	dn: cn=Barbara J Jensen, dc=Open
	 LDAP, dc=org
.ft
.fi
.LP
Lines beginning with a sharpe sign ('#') are ignored.
.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 value 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
If the attribute value is located in a file, the <attrtype> is
followed by a ':<' and a file:// URI.  e.g., the value contained
in the file /tmp/value would be listed like this:
.LP
.nf
.ft tt
	cn:< file://tmp/value
.ft
.fi
Other URI schemes (ftp,http) may be supported as well.
.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, dc=OpenLDAP, dc=Org
	cn: Barbara J Jensen
	cn: Babs Jensen
	objectclass: person
	description:< file://tmp/babs
	sn: Jensen

	dn: cn=Bjorn J Jensen, dc=OpenLDAP, dc=Org
	cn: Bjorn J Jensen
	cn: Bjorn Jensen
	objectclass: person
	sn: Jensen

	dn: cn=Jennifer J Jensen, dc=OpenLDAP, dc=Org
	cn: Jennifer J Jensen
	cn: Jennifer Jensen
	objectclass: person
	sn: Jensen
	jpegPhoto:: /9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAAAAAQABAAD/2wBDABALD
	 A4MChAODQ4SERATGCgaGBYWGDEjJR0oOjM9PDkzODdASFxOQ
	 ERXRTc4UG1RV19iZ2hnPk1xeXBkeFxlZ2P/2wBDARESEhgVG
	...
.ft
.fi
.LP
Notice that the description in Barbara Jensen's entry is
read from file://tmp/babs and the jpegPhoto in Jennifer
Jensen's entry is encoded using base 64.
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR ldap (3),
.BR ldapsearch (1),
.BR ldapadd (1)
.BR "LDAP Data Interchange Format," Good, G., RFC 2849.
.SH ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
.B	OpenLDAP
is developed and maintained by The OpenLDAP Project (http://www.openldap.org/).
.B	OpenLDAP
is derived from University of Michigan LDAP 3.3 Release.