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+Network Working Group K. Zeilenga
+Request for Comments: 4518 OpenLDAP Foundation
+Category: Standards Track June 2006
+
+
+ Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP):
+ Internationalized String Preparation
+
+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 (2006).
+
+Abstract
+
+ The previous Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) technical
+ specifications did not precisely define how character string matching
+ is to be performed. This led to a number of usability and
+ interoperability problems. This document defines string preparation
+ algorithms for character-based matching rules defined for use in
+ LDAP.
+
+1. Introduction
+
+1.1. Background
+
+ A Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) [RFC4510] matching
+ rule [RFC4517] defines an algorithm for determining whether a
+ presented value matches an attribute value in accordance with the
+ criteria defined for the rule. The proposition may be evaluated to
+ True, False, or Undefined.
+
+ True - the attribute contains a matching value,
+
+ False - the attribute contains no matching value,
+
+ Undefined - it cannot be determined whether the attribute contains
+ a matching value.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Zeilenga Standards Track [Page 1]
+
+RFC 4518 LDAP: Internationalized String Preparation June 2006
+
+
+ For instance, the caseIgnoreMatch matching rule may be used to
+ compare whether the commonName attribute contains a particular value
+ without regard for case and insignificant spaces.
+
+1.2. X.500 String Matching Rules
+
+ "X.520: Selected attribute types" [X.520] provides (among other
+ things) value syntaxes and matching rules for comparing values
+ commonly used in the directory [X.500]. These specifications are
+ inadequate for strings composed of Unicode [Unicode] characters.
+
+ The caseIgnoreMatch matching rule [X.520], for example, is simply
+ defined as being a case-insensitive comparison where insignificant
+ spaces are ignored. For printableString, there is only one space
+ character and case mapping is bijective, hence this definition is
+ sufficient. However, for Unicode string types such as
+ universalString, this is not sufficient. For example, a case-
+ insensitive matching implementation that folded lowercase characters
+ to uppercase would yield different results than an implementation
+ that used uppercase to lowercase folding. Or one implementation may
+ view space as referring to only SPACE (U+0020), a second
+ implementation may view any character with the space separator (Zs)
+ property as a space, and another implementation may view any
+ character with the whitespace (WS) category as a space.
+
+ The lack of precise specification for character string matching has
+ led to significant interoperability problems. When used in
+ certificate chain validation, security vulnerabilities can arise. To
+ address these problems, this document defines precise algorithms for
+ preparing character strings for matching.
+
+1.3. Relationship to "stringprep"
+
+ The character string preparation algorithms described in this
+ document are based upon the "stringprep" approach [RFC3454]. In
+ "stringprep", presented and stored values are first prepared for
+ comparison so that a character-by-character comparison yields the
+ "correct" result.
+
+ The approach used here is a refinement of the "stringprep" [RFC3454]
+ approach. Each algorithm involves two additional preparation steps.
+
+ a) Prior to applying the Unicode string preparation steps outlined in
+ "stringprep", the string is transcoded to Unicode.
+
+ b) After applying the Unicode string preparation steps outlined in
+ "stringprep", the string is modified to appropriately handle
+ characters insignificant to the matching rule.
+
+
+
+Zeilenga Standards Track [Page 2]
+
+RFC 4518 LDAP: Internationalized String Preparation June 2006
+
+
+ Hence, preparation of character strings for X.500 [X.500] matching
+ [X.501] involves the following steps:
+
+ 1) Transcode
+ 2) Map
+ 3) Normalize
+ 4) Prohibit
+ 5) Check Bidi (Bidirectional)
+ 6) Insignificant Character Handling
+
+ These steps are described in Section 2.
+
+ It is noted that while various tables of Unicode characters included
+ or referenced by this specification are derived from Unicode
+ [Unicode] data, these tables are to be considered definitive for the
+ purpose of implementing this specification.
+
+1.4. Relationship to the LDAP Technical Specification
+
+ This document is an integral part of the LDAP technical specification
+ [RFC4510], which obsoletes the previously defined LDAP technical
+ specification [RFC3377] in its entirety.
+
+ This document details new LDAP internationalized character string
+ preparation algorithms used by [RFC4517] and possible other technical
+ specifications defining LDAP syntaxes and/or matching rules.
+
+1.5. Relationship to X.500
+
+ LDAP is defined [RFC4510] in X.500 terms as an X.500 access
+ mechanism. As such, there is a strong desire for alignment between
+ LDAP and X.500 syntax and semantics. The character string
+ preparation algorithms described in this document are based upon
+ "Internationalized String Matching Rules for X.500" [XMATCH] proposal
+ to ITU/ISO Joint Study Group 2.
+
+1.6. Conventions and Terms
+
+ The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
+ "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
+ document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14 [RFC2119].
+
+ Character names in this document use the notation for code points and
+ names from the Unicode Standard [Unicode]. For example, the letter
+ "a" may be represented as either <U+0061> or <LATIN SMALL LETTER A>.
+ In the lists of mappings and the prohibited characters, the "U+" is
+
+
+
+
+
+Zeilenga Standards Track [Page 3]
+
+RFC 4518 LDAP: Internationalized String Preparation June 2006
+
+
+ left off to make the lists easier to read. The comments for
+ character ranges are shown in square brackets (such as "[CONTROL
+ CHARACTERS]") and do not come from the standard.
+
+ Note: a glossary of terms used in Unicode can be found in [Glossary].
+ Information on the Unicode character encoding model can be found in
+ [CharModel].
+
+ The term "combining mark", as used in this specification, refers to
+ any Unicode [Unicode] code point that has a mark property (Mn, Mc,
+ Me). Appendix A provides a definitive list of combining marks.
+
+2. String Preparation
+
+ The following six-step process SHALL be applied to each presented and
+ attribute value in preparation for character string matching rule
+ evaluation.
+
+ 1) Transcode
+ 2) Map
+ 3) Normalize
+ 4) Prohibit
+ 5) Check bidi
+ 6) Insignificant Character Handling
+
+ Failure in any step causes the assertion to evaluate to Undefined.
+
+ The character repertoire of this process is Unicode 3.2 [Unicode].
+
+ Note that this six-step process specification is intended to describe
+ expected matching behavior. Implementations are free to use
+ alternative processes so long as the matching rule evaluation
+ behavior provided is consistent with the behavior described by this
+ specification.
+
+2.1. Transcode
+
+ Each non-Unicode string value is transcoded to Unicode.
+
+ PrintableString [X.680] values are transcoded directly to Unicode.
+
+ UniversalString, UTF8String, and bmpString [X.680] values need not be
+ transcoded as they are Unicode-based strings (in the case of
+ bmpString, a subset of Unicode).
+
+ TeletexString [X.680] values are transcoded to Unicode. As there is
+ no standard for mapping TeletexString values to Unicode, the mapping
+ is left a local matter.
+
+
+
+Zeilenga Standards Track [Page 4]
+
+RFC 4518 LDAP: Internationalized String Preparation June 2006
+
+
+ For these and other reasons, use of TeletexString is NOT RECOMMENDED.
+
+ The output is the transcoded string.
+
+2.2. Map
+
+ SOFT HYPHEN (U+00AD) and MONGOLIAN TODO SOFT HYPHEN (U+1806) code
+ points are mapped to nothing. COMBINING GRAPHEME JOINER (U+034F) and
+ VARIATION SELECTORs (U+180B-180D, FF00-FE0F) code points are also
+ mapped to nothing. The OBJECT REPLACEMENT CHARACTER (U+FFFC) is
+ mapped to nothing.
+
+ CHARACTER TABULATION (U+0009), LINE FEED (LF) (U+000A), LINE
+ TABULATION (U+000B), FORM FEED (FF) (U+000C), CARRIAGE RETURN (CR)
+ (U+000D), and NEXT LINE (NEL) (U+0085) are mapped to SPACE (U+0020).
+
+ All other control code (e.g., Cc) points or code points with a
+ control function (e.g., Cf) are mapped to nothing. The following is
+ a complete list of these code points: U+0000-0008, 000E-001F, 007F-
+ 0084, 0086-009F, 06DD, 070F, 180E, 200C-200F, 202A-202E, 2060-2063,
+ 206A-206F, FEFF, FFF9-FFFB, 1D173-1D17A, E0001, E0020-E007F.
+
+ ZERO WIDTH SPACE (U+200B) is mapped to nothing. All other code
+ points with Separator (space, line, or paragraph) property (e.g., Zs,
+ Zl, or Zp) are mapped to SPACE (U+0020). The following is a complete
+ list of these code points: U+0020, 00A0, 1680, 2000-200A, 2028-2029,
+ 202F, 205F, 3000.
+
+ For case ignore, numeric, and stored prefix string matching rules,
+ characters are case folded per B.2 of [RFC3454].
+
+ The output is the mapped string.
+
+2.3. Normalize
+
+ The input string is to be normalized to Unicode Form KC
+ (compatibility composed) as described in [UAX15]. The output is the
+ normalized string.
+
+2.4. Prohibit
+
+ All Unassigned code points are prohibited. Unassigned code points
+ are listed in Table A.1 of [RFC3454].
+
+ Characters that, per Section 5.8 of [RFC3454], change display
+ properties or are deprecated are prohibited. These characters are
+ listed in Table C.8 of [RFC3454].
+
+
+
+
+Zeilenga Standards Track [Page 5]
+
+RFC 4518 LDAP: Internationalized String Preparation June 2006
+
+
+ Private Use code points are prohibited. These characters are listed
+ in Table C.3 of [RFC3454].
+
+ All non-character code points are prohibited. These code points are
+ listed in Table C.4 of [RFC3454].
+
+ Surrogate codes are prohibited. These characters are listed in Table
+ C.5 of [RFC3454].
+
+ The REPLACEMENT CHARACTER (U+FFFD) code point is prohibited.
+
+ The step fails if the input string contains any prohibited code
+ point. Otherwise, the output is the input string.
+
+2.5. Check bidi
+
+ Bidirectional characters are ignored.
+
+2.6. Insignificant Character Handling
+
+ In this step, the string is modified to ensure proper handling of
+ characters insignificant to the matching rule. This modification
+ differs from matching rule to matching rule.
+
+ Section 2.6.1 applies to case ignore and exact string matching.
+ Section 2.6.2 applies to numericString matching.
+ Section 2.6.3 applies to telephoneNumber matching.
+
+2.6.1. Insignificant Space Handling
+
+ For the purposes of this section, a space is defined to be the SPACE
+ (U+0020) code point followed by no combining marks.
+
+ NOTE - The previous steps ensure that the string cannot contain
+ any code points in the separator class, other than SPACE
+ (U+0020).
+
+ For input strings that are attribute values or non-substring
+ assertion values: If the input string contains no non-space
+ character, then the output is exactly two SPACEs. Otherwise (the
+ input string contains at least one non-space character), the string
+ is modified such that the string starts with exactly one space
+ character, ends with exactly one SPACE character, and any inner
+ (non-empty) sequence of space characters is replaced with exactly two
+ SPACE characters. For instance, the input strings
+ "foo<SPACE>bar<SPACE><SPACE>", result in the output
+ "<SPACE>foo<SPACE><SPACE>bar<SPACE>".
+
+
+
+
+Zeilenga Standards Track [Page 6]
+
+RFC 4518 LDAP: Internationalized String Preparation June 2006
+
+
+ For input strings that are substring assertion values: If the string
+ being prepared contains no non-space characters, then the output
+ string is exactly one SPACE. Otherwise, the following steps are
+ taken:
+
+ - If the input string is an initial substring, it is modified to
+ start with exactly one SPACE character;
+
+ - If the input string is an initial or an any substring that ends in
+ one or more space characters, it is modified to end with exactly
+ one SPACE character;
+
+ - If the input string is an any or a final substring that starts in
+ one or more space characters, it is modified to start with exactly
+ one SPACE character; and
+
+ - If the input string is a final substring, it is modified to end
+ with exactly one SPACE character.
+
+ For instance, for the input string "foo<SPACE>bar<SPACE><SPACE>" as
+ an initial substring, the output would be
+ "<SPACE>foo<SPACE><SPACE>bar<SPACE>". As an any or final substring,
+ the same input would result in "foo<SPACE>bar<SPACE>".
+
+ Appendix B discusses the rationale for the behavior.
+
+2.6.2. numericString Insignificant Character Handling
+
+ For the purposes of this section, a space is defined to be the SPACE
+ (U+0020) code point followed by no combining marks.
+
+ All spaces are regarded as insignificant and are to be removed.
+
+ For example, removal of spaces from the Form KC string:
+ "<SPACE><SPACE>123<SPACE><SPACE>456<SPACE><SPACE>"
+ would result in the output string:
+ "123456"
+ and the Form KC string:
+ "<SPACE><SPACE><SPACE>"
+ would result in the output string:
+ "" (an empty string).
+
+2.6.3. telephoneNumber Insignificant Character Handling
+
+ For the purposes of this section, a hyphen is defined to be a
+ HYPHEN-MINUS (U+002D), ARMENIAN HYPHEN (U+058A), HYPHEN (U+2010),
+ NON-BREAKING HYPHEN (U+2011), MINUS SIGN (U+2212), SMALL HYPHEN-MINUS
+ (U+FE63), or FULLWIDTH HYPHEN-MINUS (U+FF0D) code point followed by
+
+
+
+Zeilenga Standards Track [Page 7]
+
+RFC 4518 LDAP: Internationalized String Preparation June 2006
+
+
+ no combining marks and a space is defined to be the SPACE (U+0020)
+ code point followed by no combining marks.
+
+ All hyphens and spaces are considered insignificant and are to be
+ removed.
+
+ For example, removal of hyphens and spaces from the Form KC string:
+ "<SPACE><HYPHEN>123<SPACE><SPACE>456<SPACE><HYPHEN>"
+ would result in the output string:
+ "123456"
+ and the Form KC string:
+ "<HYPHEN><HYPHEN><HYPHEN>"
+ would result in the (empty) output string:
+ "".
+
+3. Security Considerations
+
+ "Preparation of Internationalized Strings ("stringprep")" [RFC3454]
+ security considerations generally apply to the algorithms described
+ here.
+
+4. Acknowledgements
+
+ The approach used in this document is based upon design principles
+ and algorithms described in "Preparation of Internationalized Strings
+ ('stringprep')" [RFC3454] by Paul Hoffman and Marc Blanchet. Some
+ additional guidance was drawn from Unicode Technical Standards,
+ Technical Reports, and Notes.
+
+ This document is a product of the IETF LDAP Revision (LDAPBIS)
+ Working Group.
+
+5. References
+
+5.1. Normative References
+
+ [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
+ Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
+
+ [RFC3454] Hoffman, P. and M. Blanchet, "Preparation of
+ Internationalized Strings ("stringprep")", RFC 3454,
+ December 2002.
+
+ [RFC4510] Zeilenga, K., "Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
+ (LDAP): Technical Specification Road Map", RFC 4510,
+ June 2006.
+
+
+
+
+
+Zeilenga Standards Track [Page 8]
+
+RFC 4518 LDAP: Internationalized String Preparation June 2006
+
+
+ [RFC4517] Legg, S., Ed., "Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
+ (LDAP): Syntaxes and Matching Rules", RFC 4517, June
+ 2006.
+
+ [Unicode] The Unicode Consortium, "The Unicode Standard, Version
+ 3.2.0" is defined by "The Unicode Standard, Version
+ 3.0" (Reading, MA, Addison-Wesley, 2000. ISBN 0-201-
+ 61633-5), as amended by the "Unicode Standard Annex
+ #27: Unicode 3.1"
+ (http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr27/) and by the
+ "Unicode Standard Annex #28: Unicode 3.2"
+ (http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr28/).
+
+ [UAX15] Davis, M. and M. Duerst, "Unicode Standard Annex #15:
+ Unicode Normalization Forms, Version 3.2.0".
+ <http://www.unicode.org/unicode/reports/tr15/tr15-
+ 22.html>, March 2002.
+
+ [X.680] International Telecommunication Union -
+ Telecommunication Standardization Sector, "Abstract
+ Syntax Notation One (ASN.1) - Specification of Basic
+ Notation", X.680(2002) (also ISO/IEC 8824-1:2002).
+
+5.2. Informative References
+
+ [X.500] International Telecommunication Union -
+ Telecommunication Standardization Sector, "The
+ Directory -- Overview of concepts, models and
+ services," X.500(1993) (also ISO/IEC 9594-1:1994).
+
+ [X.501] International Telecommunication Union -
+ Telecommunication Standardization Sector, "The
+ Directory -- Models," X.501(1993) (also ISO/IEC 9594-
+ 2:1994).
+
+ [X.520] International Telecommunication Union -
+ Telecommunication Standardization Sector, "The
+ Directory: Selected Attribute Types", X.520(1993) (also
+ ISO/IEC 9594-6:1994).
+
+ [Glossary] The Unicode Consortium, "Unicode Glossary",
+ <http://www.unicode.org/glossary/>.
+
+ [CharModel] Whistler, K. and M. Davis, "Unicode Technical Report
+ #17, Character Encoding Model", UTR17,
+ <http://www.unicode.org/unicode/reports/tr17/>, August
+ 2000.
+
+
+
+
+Zeilenga Standards Track [Page 9]
+
+RFC 4518 LDAP: Internationalized String Preparation June 2006
+
+
+ [RFC3377] Hodges, J. and R. Morgan, "Lightweight Directory Access
+ Protocol (v3): Technical Specification", RFC 3377,
+ September 2002.
+
+ [RFC4515] Smith, M., Ed. and T. Howes, "Lightweight Directory
+ Access Protocol (LDAP): String Representation of Search
+ Filters", RFC 4515, June 2006.
+
+ [XMATCH] Zeilenga, K., "Internationalized String Matching Rules
+ for X.500", Work in Progress.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Zeilenga Standards Track [Page 10]
+
+RFC 4518 LDAP: Internationalized String Preparation June 2006
+
+
+Appendix A. Combining Marks
+
+ This appendix is normative.
+
+ This table was derived from Unicode [Unicode] data files; it lists
+ all code points with the Mn, Mc, or Me properties. This table is to
+ be considered definitive for the purposes of implementation of this
+ specification.
+
+ 0300-034F 0360-036F 0483-0486 0488-0489 0591-05A1
+ 05A3-05B9 05BB-05BC 05BF 05C1-05C2 05C4 064B-0655 0670
+ 06D6-06DC 06DE-06E4 06E7-06E8 06EA-06ED 0711 0730-074A
+ 07A6-07B0 0901-0903 093C 093E-094F 0951-0954 0962-0963
+ 0981-0983 09BC 09BE-09C4 09C7-09C8 09CB-09CD 09D7
+ 09E2-09E3 0A02 0A3C 0A3E-0A42 0A47-0A48 0A4B-0A4D
+ 0A70-0A71 0A81-0A83 0ABC 0ABE-0AC5 0AC7-0AC9 0ACB-0ACD
+ 0B01-0B03 0B3C 0B3E-0B43 0B47-0B48 0B4B-0B4D 0B56-0B57
+ 0B82 0BBE-0BC2 0BC6-0BC8 0BCA-0BCD 0BD7 0C01-0C03
+ 0C3E-0C44 0C46-0C48 0C4A-0C4D 0C55-0C56 0C82-0C83
+ 0CBE-0CC4 0CC6-0CC8 0CCA-0CCD 0CD5-0CD6 0D02-0D03
+ 0D3E-0D43 0D46-0D48 0D4A-0D4D 0D57 0D82-0D83 0DCA
+ 0DCF-0DD4 0DD6 0DD8-0DDF 0DF2-0DF3 0E31 0E34-0E3A
+ 0E47-0E4E 0EB1 0EB4-0EB9 0EBB-0EBC 0EC8-0ECD 0F18-0F19
+ 0F35 0F37 0F39 0F3E-0F3F 0F71-0F84 0F86-0F87 0F90-0F97
+ 0F99-0FBC 0FC6 102C-1032 1036-1039 1056-1059 1712-1714
+ 1732-1734 1752-1753 1772-1773 17B4-17D3 180B-180D 18A9
+ 20D0-20EA 302A-302F 3099-309A FB1E FE00-FE0F FE20-FE23
+ 1D165-1D169 1D16D-1D172 1D17B-1D182 1D185-1D18B
+ 1D1AA-1D1AD
+
+Appendix B. Substrings Matching
+
+ This appendix is non-normative.
+
+ In the absence of substrings matching, the insignificant space
+ handling for case ignore/exact matching could be simplified.
+ Specifically, the handling could be to require that all sequences of
+ one or more spaces be replaced with one space and, if the string
+ contains non-space characters, removal of all leading spaces and
+ trailing spaces.
+
+ In the presence of substrings matching, this simplified space
+ handling would lead to unexpected and undesirable matching behavior.
+ For instance:
+
+ 1) (CN=foo\20*\20bar) would match the CN value "foobar";
+
+
+
+
+
+Zeilenga Standards Track [Page 11]
+
+RFC 4518 LDAP: Internationalized String Preparation June 2006
+
+
+ 2) (CN=*\20foobar\20*) would match "foobar", but
+ (CN=*\20*foobar*\20*) would not.
+
+ Note to readers not familiar with LDAP substrings matching: the LDAP
+ filter [RFC4515] assertion (CN=A*B*C) says to "match any value (of
+ the attribute CN) that begins with A, contains B after A, ends with C
+ where C is also after B."
+
+ The first case illustrates that this simplified space handling would
+ cause leading and trailing spaces in substrings of the string to be
+ regarded as insignificant. However, only leading and trailing (as
+ well as multiple consecutive spaces) of the string (as a whole) are
+ insignificant.
+
+ The second case illustrates that this simplified space handling would
+ cause sub-partitioning failures. That is, if a prepared any
+ substring matches a partition of the attribute value, then an
+ assertion constructed by subdividing that substring into multiple
+ substrings should also match.
+
+ In designing an appropriate approach for space handling for
+ substrings matching, one must study key aspects of X.500 case
+ exact/ignore matching. X.520 [X.520] says:
+
+ The [substrings] rule returns TRUE if there is a partitioning of
+ the attribute value (into portions) such that:
+
+ - the specified substrings (initial, any, final) match
+ different portions of the value in the order of the strings
+ sequence;
+
+ - initial, if present, matches the first portion of the value;
+
+ - final, if present, matches the last portion of the value;
+
+ - any, if present, matches some arbitrary portion of the
+ value.
+
+ That is, the substrings assertion (CN=foo\20*\20bar) matches the
+ attribute value "foo<SPACE><SPACE>bar" as the value can be
+ partitioned into the portions "foo<SPACE>" and "<SPACE>bar" meeting
+ the above requirements.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Zeilenga Standards Track [Page 12]
+
+RFC 4518 LDAP: Internationalized String Preparation June 2006
+
+
+ X.520 also says:
+
+ [T]he following spaces are regarded as not significant:
+
+ - leading spaces (i.e., those preceding the first character
+ that is not a space);
+
+ - trailing spaces (i.e., those following the last character
+ that is not a space);
+
+ - multiple consecutive spaces (these are taken as equivalent
+ to a single space character).
+
+ This statement applies to the assertion values and attribute values
+ as whole strings, and not individually to substrings of an assertion
+ value. In particular, the statements should be taken to mean that if
+ an assertion value and attribute value match without any
+ consideration to insignificant characters, then that assertion value
+ should also match any attribute value that differs only by inclusion
+ nor removal of insignificant characters.
+
+ Hence the assertion (CN=foo\20*\20bar) matches
+ "foo<SPACE><SPACE><SPACE>bar" and "foo<SPACE>bar" as these values
+ only differ from "foo<SPACE><SPACE>bar" by the inclusion or removal
+ of insignificant spaces.
+
+ Astute readers of this text will also note that there are special
+ cases where the specified space handling does not ignore spaces that
+ could be considered insignificant. For instance, the assertion
+ (CN=\20*\20*\20) does not match "<SPACE><SPACE><SPACE>"
+ (insignificant spaces present in value) or " " (insignificant spaces
+ not present in value). However, as these cases have no practical
+ application that cannot be met by simple assertions, e.g., (cn=\20),
+ and this minor anomaly can only be fully addressed by a preparation
+ algorithm to be used in conjunction with character-by-character
+ partitioning and matching, the anomaly is considered acceptable.
+
+Author's Address
+
+ Kurt D. Zeilenga
+ OpenLDAP Foundation
+
+ EMail: Kurt@OpenLDAP.org
+
+
+
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+Zeilenga Standards Track [Page 13]
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+RFC 4518 LDAP: Internationalized String Preparation June 2006
+
+
+Full Copyright Statement
+
+ Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).
+
+ This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions
+ contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors
+ retain all their rights.
+
+ This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
+ "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
+ OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
+ ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
+ INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE
+ INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
+ WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+
+Intellectual Property
+
+ The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
+ Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
+ pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
+ this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
+ might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
+ made any independent effort to identify any such rights. Information
+ on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be
+ found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.
+
+ Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
+ assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
+ attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of
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+ http://www.ietf.org/ipr.
+
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+
+Acknowledgement
+
+ Funding for the RFC Editor function is provided by the IETF
+ Administrative Support Activity (IASA).
+
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+Zeilenga Standards Track [Page 14]
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