LEX Online Manual Content

• Introduction to LEX
  • First steps
    • License Splashscreen
    • ReadOnly PopUp
    • First LDAP Connection
  • LEX GUI Elements
    • The Treeview Panel
      • Reloading the Tree Structure
      • Hiding the Tree Structure
      • The currently selected Container
    • The Object List Panel
      • Reloading the Object List
      • Object List Scope
      • Object List Filter
      • Object Names Display
      • Object Attribute Columns
      • Sorting the Object List
      • Object Icons
    • The Attribute List Panel
      • Showing and Hiding the Attribute List
      • Attribute List Position
      • Refreshing the Attribute List Contents
      • Attribute List Filter
    • The Address Bar
    • The Command Button Bar
    • The Status Bar
    • The Attribute Window
      • Attribute Window Hotkeys
      • Attribute Window Command Buttons
      • Refreshing the Attribute Window Contents
      • Attribute Window Filter
      • Text Output
  • Command Line Parameters
• Command Buttons
  • Treeview Buttons
    • Expand/Collapse Tree Panel
    • Reload Directory Info
    • Reload Entire Directory Tree
    • Search
  • Object List Buttons
    • Expand/Collapse Tree Panel
    • Expand/Collapse Attribute List
    • Reload Object List
    • Go Up one Level
    • Show Objects in all Subcontainers
    • Create New Object
    • Delete Object
    • Show Friendly Object Names
    • Show Distinguished Name in Novell Notation
    • Show Hex Output for Hex Values
    • Set Object Filter
  • Attribute List Buttons
    • Toggle Attribute List Position
    • Reload Attribute Info
    • Add New Attribute
    • Add Attribute Element to an Array
    • Remove Attribute
    • Show only Attributes that have Values
    • Show Multivalued Attributes
    • Set Attribute List Filter
  • Attribute Window Buttons
    • Reload Attribute Info
    • Compare this Object with another
    • Add New Attribute
    • Add Attribute Element to an Array
    • Remove Attribute
    • Show only Attributes that have Values
    • Show Friendly Object Names
    • Show Distinguished Name in Novell Notation
    • Show Hex Output for Hex Values
    • Show Multivalued Attributes
    • Set Attribute List Filter
    • Show Attribute Names and Values
• Menu Help
  • Connection Menu
    • Connect
    • Save
    • New LEX
    • Disconnect
    • Connection Info
    • Attributes
    • RootDSE
    • Exit
  • Edit Menu
    • Copy Attribute Name
    • Copy Attribute Value
    • Paste Attribute
    • Search
    • Undelete
    • Set Password
    • Permissions
    • New Object
    • Delete Object
    • Move Object
    • Rename Object
    • Add New Attribute
    • Add Array Member
    • Remoe Attribute
    • Set empty Value
    • Quick Edit Value
    • Edit Attribute Value
  • View Menu
    • Set Attribute as List Column
    • Column Field Chooser
      • Object type
      • Date modified
      • Modifiers name
      • Date created
      • Creators Name
      • More
      • Load Column Set
      • Save Column Set
    • Filter Display for this Attribute
    • Jump to Object
    • Toolbars
      • Address Bar
      • Button Bar
      • Status Bar
    • Directory Tree
    • Attribute List
    • List Output Settings
      • Show Objects in all Subcontainers
      • Show Friendly Object Names
      • Show DNs in Novell Notation
      • Show Hex Output for Attributes with Hex Values
    • Attribute Output Settings
      • Show Hex Output for Attributes with Hex Values
      • Show only Attribute that have Values
      • Show Multivalued Attributes
    • Refresh
    • Reload Entire Tree
  • Favorites Menu
    • Add to Favorites
    • Organize Favorites
    • Sort by Name
  • Tools Menu
    • Use in Filter Factory
    • Select for Compare
    • Compare with...
    • Directory Export - Object List
    • Directory Export - Attribute List
    • Directory Import - LDIF
    • Filter Factory
    • TreeMap Factory
    • Observation Factory
    • Pipe Factory
    • Additional Infos/Tools
      • Resolve SID Attributes to Objects
      • Converter for numeric values
      • Converter for hex values
      • Converter for GUID values
      • Converter for SID values
    • Options
  • Help Menu
    • Index
    • Search
    • Online Support
    • Check for Updates
    • Activate existing License
    • About
• Application Options
  • General Tab
  • LDAP Settings Tab
  • Object Filter Tab
  • Attribute Filter Tab
  • Container Classes Tab
  • Attribute Syntaxes Tab
  • Linked Attributes Tab
  • Dialog Settings Tab
  • Colors Tab
• Application Hotkeys
• Connecting to LDAP Servers
  • The LDAP Connections Dialog
    • Server Tab
    • Advanced Tab
    • Attribute Filter Tab
    • Column Tabs
  • Connection Profiles
  • LDAPS / LDAP over SSL
• Working with LDAP Objects
  • Creating Directory Objects
  • Renaming Directory Objects
  • Moving Directory Objects
  • Deleting Directory Objects
  • Editing Multiple Objects
  • LDAP Object Classes
  • LDAP Attributes
    • Attribute Syntaxes
    • Attribute Editors
      • String Editor
      • Integer Editor
      • Boolean Editor
      • DN Editor
      • Generalized Timestring Editor
      • Binary / Hex Editor
      • Password Editor
      • Bitmap Editor
      • GUID Editor
      • Microsoft Security Descriptor Editor
      • Microsoft Access Control Entry Editor
      • Microsoft SID Editor
      • Microsoft Large Integer Editor
      • Microsoft Interval Editor
      • Microsoft Timestamp Editor
      • Microsoft DN with Binary Editor
      • Microsoft DN with String Editor
      • Novell Object ACL Editor
      • Novell Path Editor
      • Novell EMail Address Editor
      • Novell Timestamp Editor
      • Novell Backlink Editor
      • Novell Typed Name Editor
      • Flag Attribute Editor
    • Operational Attributes
    • Binary Attributes
    • Displaying Multivalued Attributes
    • Displaying Hex/Octetstring Attributes
    • Displaying DN Attributes
    • Displaying Unused Attributes
  • Undeleting Active Directory Objects
    • AD Tombstone Reanimation
    • AD Recycle Bin
  • Copy and Paste of Attribute Values
• Working with LDAP Directories
  • ReadOnly Mode
  • Directory Tree Caching
  • Container Class Evaluation
• Building LDAP Filters
  • LDAP Filter Syntax
  • The Filter Factory
  • The Filter Constructor
  • The Single Filter Editor
  • Famous Filters
• Searching The Directory
  • Search Results
  • Searching the Global Catalog in AD Environments
• Comparing Objects
  • Compare Window Hotkeys
  • Compare Window Command Buttons
• Exporting Directory Data
  • Exporting Object List Data
  • Exporting Attribute List Data
• Importing Directory Data
• Licensing Contract for Users

Building LDAP Filters

By using LDAP filters, criteria can be specified when searching for certain objects within the directory. Nontechnically spoken, criteria for LDAP filters could be:

• All objects from a certain objectClass (all users, all groups, all printers...)
• All groups where the user 'xyz' is member of
• All users with a user certificate
• All empty groups
• All Samba accounts without user password
• All global groups of the AD domain
• All users and contacts within a certain Organizational Unit (OU)
• All users whose postal codes start with a certain number
• All mailboxes which name starts with 'Test...', 'POC...' or 'Sandbox...'
• All users whose first names start with 'N'
• All Active Directory domain controllers
• All users not shown in the address list, having their mailbox on a specific server
• The server that holds the replica of a specific ADAM partition
• The ADS site link for which a specific domain controller is bridgehead
• . . .

You will need such filters in LEX whenever you want to search the directory for objects with a complex search operation, or when you want to filter the object list in the LEX main window.

LDAP filters are basically text strings with a special syntax. There is a special online manual topic about the LDAP Filter Syntax.

Because LDAP filters can be quite complex but are important for daily directory operations, LEX comes with a tool where you can store and construct filters: The LEX Filter Factory.

This Filter Factory has a Filter Constructor which allows you to handle the logical structure of a filter - and an Single Filter Editor dialog.

Last but nor least: LEX comes with quite a lot of pre-defined 'famous' LDAP Filters which helps you understand and use the LDAP filter syntax for your own searches.

Because LDAP filters are needed in many situations, you can even use LEX and it's ability to build and construct LDAP filters or to display the logical structure of complex filter strings to use the results in other applications - for example in the Active Directory Users and Computers tool for the Saved Queries dialog: