NAME¶
Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder - Build LDAP filter statements
VERSION¶
This document refers to version 1.0004 of Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder
PURPOSE¶
Use this module to construct LDAP filter statments which are compliant with the
RFC 4515 syntax and also safely escape special characters. Filter statements
can be built incrementally using simple logic operations.
SYNOPSIS¶
use Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder;
my $filter1 = Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder->new( sn => 'Jones' );
# now $filter1 eq '(sn=Jones)'
Basic logic operations such as "and", "or" and
"not":
$filter1->and( givenName => 'David' );
# (&(sn=Jones)(givenName=David))
my $filter2 = Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder->new( sn => [ 'Jones', 'Edwards', 'Lewis' ] );
# (|(sn=Jones)(sn=Edwards)(sn=Lewis))
my $filter3 = Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder->new( givenName => 'David' )->not;
# (!(givenName=David))
Build up filters incrementally from other FilterBuidler objects:
my $filter4 = Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder->new( sn => ['Jones', 'Edwards'] )->and( $filter3 );
# (&(|(sn=Jones)(sn=Edwards))(!(givenName=David)))
Special characters to LDAP will be escaped:
my $filter5 = Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder->new( sn => 'foo*bar' );
# (sn=foo\*bar)
To disable escaping, pass a Scalar reference:
my $filter6 = Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder->new( sn => \'foo*bar' );
# (sn=foo*bar)
Alternate operators are available through the three-argument constructor form:
my $filter7 = Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder->new( '>=', dateOfBirth => '19700101000000Z' );
# (dateOfBirth>=19700101000000Z)
DESCRIPTION¶
This is a convenience module which greatly simplifies the construction of LDAP
query filter statments, which are described in RFC 4515 and also the
Net::LDAP::Filter manual page.
USAGE¶
To make any filter, call the constructor "new" with the attribute and
value to match:
my $filter = Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder->new( sn => 'Jones' );
The value returned is an object, but stringifies to the current query:
print "success" if $filter eq '(sn=Jones)';
# prints "success"
However you can refine the filter statement using three additional methods for
the logical operations "and", "or" and "not", as
shown in the "SYOPSIS" section, above, and the "METHODS"
section below.
There are two ways to refine a filter. Either call the logic method with a new
attribute and value, or call a logic method and pass another
Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder object. These two practices are also shown in the
"SYNOPSIS" section, above.
Comparison Operators¶
By default the module uses an equal operator between the attribute and value. To
select an alternate operator, use the three agurment form of the constructor:
my $filter = Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder->new( '>=', dateOfBirth => '19700101000000Z' );
# (dateOfBirth>=19700101000000Z)
Note that this module is not aware of the list of valid operators, it simply
takes the first argument to be the operator, whatever it might be.
Special Character Escaping¶
If you happen to include one of the small set of characters which are of special
significance to LDAP filter statments in your value argument, then those
characters will be escaped. The list of characters is:
( ) * \ NUL
To avoid this pass in a scalar reference as the value argument. For example to
enable a wildcard (substring) match on a value:
my $filter = Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder->new( sn => \'foo*bar' );
# (sn=foo*bar)
METHODS¶
- as_str
- Returns the string representation of the LDAP filter. Note that the object
will stringify to this value in string context, too.
- and(FILTERSPEC)
- Logically conjoins this filter with the one specified by FILTERSPEC.
FILTERSPEC may be a Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder object, or a hash
representation of the filter as taken by new.
Returns the newly-conjoined Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder.
- or(FILTERSPEC)
- Logically disjoins this filter with the one specified by FILTERSPEC.
FILTERSPEC may be a Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder object, or a hash
representation of the filter as taken by new.
Returns the newly-disjoined Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder.
- not
- Logically complements this filter.
Returns the newly-negated Net::LDAP::FilterBuilder.
AUTHOR¶
Originally written by Ray Miller.
MAINTAINER¶
Oliver Gorwits "<oliver.gorwits@oucs.ox.ac.uk>"
COPYRIGHT & LICENSE¶
Copyright (c) The University of Oxford 2008.
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the same terms as Perl itself.