RFC 3674 (rfc3674) - Page 1 of 5


Feature Discovery in Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)



Alternative Format: Original Text Document



Network Working Group                                        K. Zeilenga
Request for Comments: 3674                           OpenLDAP Foundation
Category: Standards Track                                  December 2003


   Feature Discovery in Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an extensible
   protocol with numerous elective features.  This document introduces a
   general mechanism for discovery of elective features and extensions
   which cannot be discovered using existing mechanisms.

1.  Background and Intended Use

   The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) [RFC 3377] is an
   extensible protocol with numerous elective features.  LDAP provides
   mechanisms for a client to discover supported protocol versions,
   controls, extended operations, Simple Authentication and Security
   Layer (SASL) mechanisms, and subschema information.  However, these
   mechanisms are not designed to support general feature discovery.

   This document describes a simple, general-purpose mechanism which
   clients may use to discover the set of elective features supported by
   a server.  For example, this mechanism could be used by a client to
   discover whether or not the server supports requests for all
   operational attributes, e.g., "+" [RFC 3673].  As another example,
   this mechanism could be used to discover absolute true, e.g., "(&)"
   and false, e.g., "(|)", search filters [T-F] support.

   This document extends the LDAP Protocol Mechanism registry [RFC 3383]
   to support registration of values of the supportedFeatures attribute.
   This registry is managed by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
   (IANA).




Zeilenga                    Standards Track