NAME DBD::LDAP - A DBI driver for LDAP databases. LDAP stands for the "Lightweight Directory Access Protocol". For more information, see: http://www.ogre.com/ldap/docs.html SYNOPSIS use DBI; $dbh = DBI->connect("DBI:LDAP:ldapdb",'user','password') #USER LOGIN. or die "Cannot connect as user: " . $DBI::errstr; $dbh = DBI->connect("DBI:LDAP:ldapdb") #ANONYMOUS LOGIN (Read-only). or die "Cannot connect as guest (readonly): " . $DBI::errstr; $sth = $dbh->prepare("select * from people where (cn like 'Smith%')") or die "Cannot prepare: " . $dbh->errstr(); $sth->execute() or die "Cannot execute: " . $sth->errstr(); while ((@results) = $sth->fetchrow_array) { print "--------------------------------------------------------\n"; ++$cnt; while (@results) { print "------>".join('|',split(/\0/, shift(@results)))."\n"; } } $sth->finish(); $dbh->disconnect(); DESCRIPTION DBD::LDAP is a DBI extension module adding an SQL database interface to standard LDAP databases to Perl's database-independent database interface. You will need access to an existing LDAP database or set up your own using an LDAP server, ie. "OpenLDAP", see (http://www.openldap.org). JLdap.pm is included in this module as a separate file, and is required. The main advantage of DBD::LDAP is the ability to query LDAP databases via standard SQL queries in leu of cryptic LDAP "filters". LDAP is optimized for quick lookup of existing data, but DBD::LDAP does support entry inserts, updates, and deletes with commit/rollback via the standard SQL commands! LDAP databases are "heirarchical" in structure, whereas other DBD-supported databases are "relational" and there is no Ldap-equivalent to SQL "tables", so DBD::LDAP maps a "table" interface over the LDAP "tree" via a configuration file you must set up. Each "table" is mapped to a common "base DN". For example, consider a typical LDAP database of employees within different departments within a company. You might have a "company" names "Acme" and the root "dn" of "dc=Acme, dc=com" (Acme.com). Below the company level, are divisions, ie. "Widgets", and "Blivets". Each division would have an entry with a "dn" of "ou=Widgets, dc=Acme, dc=com". Employees within each division could have a "dn" of "cn=John Doe, ou=Widgets, dc=Acme, dc=com". With DBD::LDAP, we could create tables to access these different levels, ie. "top", which would have a "DN" of "dc=Acme, dc=com", "WidgetDivision" for "ou=Widgets, dc=Acme, dc=com". Tables can also be constained by additional attribute specifications (filters), ie constraining by "objectclass", ie. "(objectclass=person)". Then, doing a "select * from WidgetDivision" would display all "person"s with a "dn" containing ""ou=Widgets, dc=Acme, dc=com". Prerequisites Convert::ANS1 (required by Net::LDAP) Net::LDAP DBI - an LDAP database to connect to. Installation Installing this module (and the prerequisites from above) is quite simple. You just fetch the archive, extract it with gzip -cd DBD-LDAP-####.tar.gz | tar xf - -or- tar -xzvf DBD-LDAP-####.tar.gz (this is for Unix users, Windows users would prefer WinZip or something similar) and then enter the following: cd DBD-LDAP-#.### perl Makefile.PL make make test If any tests fail, let me know. Otherwise go on with make install Note that you almost definitely need root or administrator permissions. If you don't have them, read the ExtUtils::MakeMaker man page for details on installing in your own directories. Getting started: 1) Create a "database", ie. "foo" by creating a text file "foo.ldb". The general format of this file is: ---------------------------------------------------------- hostname[;port][:[root-dn][:[loginrule]]] tablename1:[basedn]:[basefilter]:dnattrs:[visableattrs]:[insertattrs]:[ldap_options] tablename2:[basedn]:[basefilter]:dnattrs:[visableattrs]:[insertattrs]:[ldap_options] ... ---------------------------------------------------------- represents the ldap server host name. represents the server's port, default is 389. if specified, is appended to the end of each tablename's base-dn. if specified, converts single word "usernames" to the appropriate DN, ie: "cn=*," would convert user name "foo" to "cn=foo, " and append the "" onto that. The asterisk is converted to the user-name specified in the "connect" method. If not specified, the username specified in the "connect" method must be a full DN. If the "" is not specified, then the "" would need to be a full DN. tablename - represents the name to be used in SQL statements for a given set of entries which make up a virtual "table". basedn - if specified, is appended to the "" to make up the common base DN for all entries in this table. If "" is not specified, then a full DN must be specified; otherwise, the default is the root-dn. basefilter - if specified, specifies a filter to be used if no "where"- clause is specified in SQL queries. If a "where"-clause is specified, the resulting filter is "and"-ed with this one. The default is "(objectclass=*)". dnattrs - specifies which attributes that values for which are to be appended to the left of the basedn to create DNs for new entries being inserted into the table. visableattrs - if specified, one or more attributes separated by commas which will be sought when the SQL statement does not specify attributes, ie. "select * from tablename". If not specified, the attributes of the first matching entry are returned and used for all entries matching a given query. insertattrs - if specified, one or more attribute/value combinations to be added to any new entry inserted into the table, usually needed for objectclass values. The attributes and values usually correspond to those specivied in the "". The general format is: attr1=value1[|value2...],attr2=value1...,... These attributes and values will be joined with any user-specified values for these attributes. ldap_options - if specified, can be any one or more of the following: ldap_sizelimit - Limit the number of entries fetch by a query to this number (0 = no limit) - default: 0. ldap_timelimit - Limit the search to this number of seconds per query. (0 = no limit) - default: 0. ldap_scope - specify the "scope" of the search. Values are: "base", "one", and "sub", see Net::LDAP docs. Default is "one", meaning the set of records one level below the basedn. "base" means search only the basedn, and "sub" means the union of entries at the "base" level and "one" level below. ldap_inseparator - specify the separator character/string to be used in queries to separate multiple values being specified for a given attribute. Default is "|". ldap_outseparator - specify the separator character/string to be used in queryies to separate multiple values displayed as a result of a query. Default is "|". ldap_firstonly - only display the 1st value fetched for each attribute per entry. This makes "ldap_outseparator" unnecessary. 2) write your script to use DBI, ie: #!/usr/bin/perl use DBI; $dbh = DBI->connect('DBD:LDAP:mydb','me','mypassword') || die "Could not connect (".$DBI->err.':'.$DBI->errstr.")!"; ... #CREATE A TABLE, INSERT SOME RECORDS, HAVE SOME FUN! 3) get your application working. Inserting, fetching and modifying data 1st, we'll create a database called "ldapdb" with the tables previously mentioned in the example in the DESCRIPTION section: ----------------- file "ldapdb.ldb" ---------------- ldapserver:dc=Acme, dc=com:cn=*, top:::dc WidgetDivision:ou=Widgets, :&(objectclass=top)(objectclass=person):cn:cn,sn,ou,title,telephonenumber,description,objectclass,dn:objectclass=top|person|organizationalPerson:ldap_outseparator => ":" ---------------------------------------------------- The following examples insert some data in a table and fetch it back: First all data in the string: $dbh->do(<do("INSERT INTO WidgetDivision (cn,sn,title,telephonenumber) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)", 'John Doe','DoeJ','Manager','123-1111'); END_SQL $dbh->commit(); NOTE: Unlike most other DBD modules which support transactions, changes made do NOT show up until the "commit" function is called, unless "AutoCommit" is set. This is due to the fact that fetches are done from the LDAP server and changes do not take effect there until the Net::LDAP "update" function is called, which is called by "commit". NOTE: The "dn" field is generated automatically from the base "dn" and the dn component fields specified by "dnattrs", If you try to insert a value directly into it, it will be ignored. Also, if not specified, any attribute/value combinations specified in the "insertattrs" option will be added automatically. To retrieve data, you can use the following: my($query) = "SELECT * FROM WidgetDivision WHERE cn like 'John%' ORDER BY cn"; my($sth) = $dbh->prepare($query); $sth->execute(); while (my $entry = $sth->fetchrow_hashref) { print("Found result record: cn = ", $entry->{'cn'}, ", phone = ", $row->{'telephonenumber'}); } $sth->finish(); The SQL "SELECT" statement above (combined with the table information in the "ldapdb.ldb" database file would generate and execute the following equivalent LDAP Search: base => 'ou=Widgets, dc=Acme, dc=com', filter => '(&(&(objectclass=top)(objectclass=person))(cn=John*))', scope => 'one', attrs => 'cn,sn,ou,title,telephonenumber,description,objectclass,dn' See the DBI(3) manpage for details on these methods. See the Data rows are modified with the UPDATE statement: $dbh->do("UPDATE WidgetDivision SET description = 'Outstanding Employee' WHERE cn = 'John Doe'"); NOTE: You can NOT change the "dn" field directly - direct changes will be ignored. You change the "rdn" component of the "dn" field by changing the value of the other field(s) which are appended to the base "dn". Also, if not specified, any attribute/value combinations specified in the "insertattrs" option will be added automatically. Likewise you use the DELETE statement for removing entries: $dbh->do("DELETE FROM WidgetDivision WHERE description = 'Outstanding Employee'"); Metadata The following attributes are handled by DBI itself and not by DBD::LDAP, thus they should all work as expected. PrintError RaiseError Warn The following DBI attributes are handled by DBD::LDAP: AutoCommit Works NUM_OF_FIELDS Valid after `$sth->execute' NUM_OF_PARAMS Valid after `$sth->prepare' NAME Valid after `$sth->execute'; undef for Non-Select statements. NULLABLE Not really working. Always returns an array ref of one's, as DBD::LDAP always allows NULL (handled as an empty string). Valid after `$sth->execute'. LongReadLen Should work LongTruncOk Should work These attributes and methods are not supported: bind_param_inout CursorName In addition to the DBI attributes, you can use the following dbh attributes. These attributes are read-only after "connect". ldap_dbuser Current database user. ldap_HOME Environment variable specifying a path to search for LDAP databases (*.sdb) files. Driver private methods DBI->data_sources() The `data_sources' method returns a list of "databases" (.ldb files) found in the current directory and, if specified, the path in the ldap_HOME environment variable. $dbh->tables() This method returns a list of table names specified in the current database. Example: my($dbh) = DBI->connect("DBI:LDAP:mydatabase",'me','mypswd'); my(@list) = $dbh->func('tables'); Restrictions DBD::LDAP currently treats all data as strings and all fields as VARCHAR(255). Currently, you must define tables manually in the ".ldb" file using your favorite text editor. Someday, if I have too much time on my hands, I hope to add support for the SQL "Create Table", "Alter Table", and "Drop Table" functions to handle this eventually (Patches welcome!) TODO "Create Table", "Alter Table", and "Drop Table" SQL functions for creating, altering, and deleting the tables defined in the ".ldb" file. Some kind of datatype support, ie. numeric (for sorting), CHAR for padding, Long/Blob - for >255 chars per field, etc. KNOWN BUGS none - (yet). AUTHOR AND COPYRIGHT This module is Copyright (C) 2000-2004 by Jim Turner Email: turnerjw@wwol.com All rights reserved. You may distribute this module under the terms of either the GNU General Public License or the Artistic License, as specified in the Perl README file. CHANGES See Changes file. SEE ALSO Net::LDAP(3), DBI(3), perl(1) For general information on DBI see http://www.symbolstone.org/technology/perl/DBI