Searching an Internationalized Directory526 Netscape Directory Server Administrator’s Guide • August 2002Matching Rule Filter SyntaxA matching rule provides special guidelines for how the directory comparesstrings during a search operation. In an international search, the matching rule tellsthe system what collation order and operator to use when performing the searchoperation. For example, a matching rule in an international search might tell theserver to search for attribute values that come at or after llama in the Spanishcollation order. The syntax of the matching rule filter is as follows:attr:matchingRule:=valuewhere:• attr is an attribute belonging to entries you’re searching for, such as cn or mail• matchingRule is a string that identifies either the collation order or the collationorder and a relational operator, depending on the format you prefer. For adiscussion of matching rule formats, see “Matching Rule Formats,” onpage 526.• value is either the attribute value you want to search for or a relational operatorplus the attribute value you want to search for.The syntax of the value portionof the filter depends on the matching rule format you use.Matching Rule FormatsThe matching rule portion of a search filter can be represented in several ways. Theone you use is a matter of personal preference. The matching rule can berepresented in the following ways:• As the OID of the collation order for the locale on which you want to base yoursearch.• As the language tag associated with the collation order on which you want tobase your search.• As the OID of the collation order and a suffix that represents a relationaloperator.• As the language tag associated with the collation order and a suffix thatrepresents a relational operator.The syntax for each of these options is discussed in the following sections:• Using an OID for the Matching Rule• Using a Language Tag for the Matching Rule• Using an OID and Suffix for the Matching Rule
