Multiple following spaces

["Fritz, Thomas" <Thomas.Fritz@bam.de>]

This is in reply to Armin Wenz mail "Multiple following spaces", Fri, 31
Jan 2003. (I read it in the archive and subscribed to the list only
afterwards.)

I'm using OpenLDAP 2.0.27, 2.0.23 on Debian unstable/testing and 2.0.21
on RedHat GNU/Linux with ldbm (Berkeley resp. GNU) backends.

My experience is that the problem/behaviour/bug? in retrieving values
with leading/trailing/multiple-embedded spaces exists only in
combination with *indexed attributes*. 

If the attribute is not indexed, you can retrieve values with
leading/trailing/multiple-embedded spaces as expected, e.g. if you
stored the directory string: "      funny    value    " 
in a non-indexed attribute, say 'attr', then any of the following
filters (equality-)matches:

"attr=funny value"
"attr= funny       value "
"attr=      funny    value    "

That's what equality-matching for directory strings should do: "ignore
leading, trailing and multiple embedded spaces".

I agree with you Armin: The behaviour for indexed attributes is ugly, a
bug IMHO. However, I have no work around other than "normalize" strings
before they enter the directory.


Tom