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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
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<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN" "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
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<refentrytitle>ldb</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
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<refname>ldb</refname>
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<refclass>The Samba Project</refclass>
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<refpurpose>A light-weight database library</refpurpose>
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<synopsis>#include <ldb.h></synopsis>
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<title>description</title>
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ldb is a light weight embedded database library and API. With a
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programming interface that is very similar to LDAP, ldb can store its
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data either in a tdb(3) database or in a real LDAP database.
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When used with the tdb backend ldb does not require any database
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daemon. Instead, ldb function calls are processed immediately by the
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ldb library, which does IO directly on the database, while allowing
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multiple readers/writers using operating system byte range locks. This
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leads to an API with very low overheads, often resulting in speeds of
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more than 10x what can be achieved with a more traditional LDAP
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In a taxonomy of databases ldb would sit half way between key/value
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pair databases (such as berkley db or tdb) and a full LDAP
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database. With a structured attribute oriented API like LDAP and good
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indexing capabilities, ldb can be used for quite sophisticated
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applications that need a light weight database, without the
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administrative overhead of a full LDAP installation.
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Included with ldb are a number of useful command line tools for
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manipulating a ldb database. These tools are similar in style to the
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equivalent ldap command line tools.
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In its default mode of operation with a tdb backend, ldb can also be
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seen as a "schema-less LDAP". By default ldb does not require a
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schema, which greatly reduces the complexity of getting started with
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ldb databases. As the complexity of you application grows you can take
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advantage of some of the optional schema-like attributes that ldb
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offers, or you can migrate to using the full LDAP api while keeping
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your exiting ldb code.
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If you are new to ldb, then I suggest starting with the manual pages
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for ldbsearch(1) and ldbedit(1), and experimenting with a local
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database. Then I suggest you look at the ldb_connect(3) and
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ldb_search(3) manual pages.
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<application>ldbsearch(1)</application>
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- command line ldb search utility
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<application>ldbedit(1)</application>
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- edit all or part of a ldb database using your favourite editor
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<application>ldbadd(1)</application>
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- add records to a ldb database using LDIF formatted input
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<application>ldbdel(1)</application>
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- delete records from a ldb database
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<application>ldbmodify(1)</application>
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- modify records in a ldb database using LDIF formatted input
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<title>FUNCTIONS</title>
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<function>ldb_connect(3)</function>
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- connect to a ldb backend
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<function>ldb_search(3)</function>
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- perform a database search
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<function>ldb_add(3)</function>
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- add a record to the database
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<function>ldb_delete(3)</function>
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- delete a record from the database
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<function>ldb_modify(3)</function>
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- modify a record in the database
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<function>ldb_errstring(3)</function>
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- retrieve extended error information from the last operation
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<function>ldb_ldif_write(3)</function>
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- write a LDIF formatted message
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<function>ldb_ldif_write_file(3)</function>
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- write a LDIF formatted message to a file
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<function>ldb_ldif_read(3)</function>
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- read a LDIF formatted message
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<function>ldb_ldif_read_free(3)</function>
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- free the result of a ldb_ldif_read()
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<function>ldb_ldif_read_file(3)</function>
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- read a LDIF message from a file
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<function>ldb_ldif_read_string(3)</function>
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- read a LDIF message from a string
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<function>ldb_msg_find_element(3)</function>
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- find an element in a ldb_message
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<function>ldb_val_equal_exact(3)</function>
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- compare two ldb_val structures
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<function>ldb_msg_find_val(3)</function>
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- find an element by value
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<function>ldb_msg_add_empty(3)</function>
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- add an empty message element to a ldb_message
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<function>ldb_msg_add(3)</function>
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- add a non-empty message element to a ldb_message
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<function>ldb_msg_element_compare(3)</function>
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- compare two ldb_message_element structures
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<function>ldb_msg_find_int(3)</function>
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- return an integer value from a ldb_message
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<function>ldb_msg_find_uint(3)</function>
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- return an unsigned integer value from a ldb_message
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<function>ldb_msg_find_double(3)</function>
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- return a double value from a ldb_message
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<function>ldb_msg_find_string(3)</function>
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- return a string value from a ldb_message
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<function>ldb_set_alloc(3)</function>
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- set the memory allocation function to be used by ldb
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<function>ldb_set_debug(3)</function>
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- set a debug handler to be used by ldb
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<function>ldb_set_debug_stderr(3)</function>
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- set a debug handler for stderr output
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<title>Author</title>
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<ulink url="http://samba.org/~tridge/">Andrew Tridgell</ulink>.
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If you wish to report a problem or make a suggestion then please see
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the <ulink url="http://ldb.samba.org/"/> web site for
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current contact and maintainer information.
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ldb is released under the GNU Lesser General Public License version 2
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or later. Please see the file COPYING for license details.