is there any relevant difference between the replace and delete/add methods, which triggered this state in the DB?
Jon already answered that. When you use replace, it replaces *all* values with what you supply in the operation.
What's the solution to avoid this?
Don't use replace. --Quanah -- Quanah Gibson-Mount Product Architect Symas Corporation Packaged, certified, and supported LDAP solutions powered by OpenLDAP: <http://www.symas.com>