
Internet-Draft                                 D. Boreham, Bozeman Pass 
LDAPext Working Group                            J. Sermersheim, Novell 
Intended Category: Standards Track                  A. Kashi, Microsoft 
<draft-ietf-ldapext-ldapv3-vlv-06.txt>                                  
Expires: Nov 2002                                              May 2002 
    
    
       LDAP Extensions for Scrolling View Browsing of Search Results 
    
    
1. Status of this Memo 
    
   This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with 
   all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026. 
    
   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering 
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other 
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   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months 
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any 
   time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference 
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." 
    
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   http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt 
    
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   This document is intended to be submitted, after review and revision, 
   as a Standards Track document. Distribution of this memo is 
   unlimited. 
   Please send comments to the authors. 
    
    
2. Abstract 
    
   This document describes a Virtual List View control extension for the 
   Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) Search operation. This 
   control is designed to allow the "virtual list box" feature, common 
   in existing commercial e-mail address book applications, to be 
   supported efficiently by LDAP servers. LDAP servers' inability to 
   support this client feature is a significant impediment to LDAP 
   replacing proprietary protocols in commercial e-mail systems. 
    
   The control allows a client to specify that the server return, for a 
   given LDAP search with associated sort keys, a contiguous subset of 
   the search result set. This subset is specified in terms of offsets 
   into the ordered list, or in terms of a greater than or equal 
   comparison value. 
    
    
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3. Conventions used in this document 
   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", 
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", and "MAY" in this document are 
   to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [Bradner97]. 
    
    
4. Background 
    
   A Virtual List is a graphical user interface technique employed where 
   ordered lists containing a large number of entries need to be 
   displayed. A window containing a small number of visible list entries 
   is drawn. The visible portion of the list may be relocated to 
   different points within the list by means of user input. This input 
   can be to a scroll bar slider; from cursor keys; from page up/down 
   keys; from alphanumeric keys for "typedown". The user is given the 
   impression that they may browse the complete list at will, even 
   though it may contain millions of entries. It is the fact that the 
   complete list contents are never required at any one time that 
   characterizes Virtual List View. Rather than fetch the complete list 
   from wherever it is stored (typically from disk or a remote server), 
   only that information which is required to display the part of the 
   list currently in view is fetched. The subject of this document is 
   the interaction between client and server required to implement this 
   functionality in the context of the results from a sorted LDAP search 
   request. 
    
   For example, suppose an e-mail address book application displays a 
   list view onto the list containing the names of all the holders of e-
   mail accounts at a large university. The list is sorted 
   alphabetically. While there may be tens of thousands of entries in 
   this list, the address book list view displays only 20 such accounts 
   at any one time. The list has an accompanying scroll bar and text 
   input window for type-down. When first displayed, the list view shows 
   the first 20 entries in the list, and the scroll bar slider is 
   positioned at the top of its range. Should the user drag the slider 
   to the bottom of its range, the displayed contents of the list view 
   should be updated to show the last 20 entries in the list. Similarly, 
   if the slider is positioned somewhere in the middle of its travel, 
   the displayed contents of the list view should be updated to contain 
   the 20 entries located at that relative position within the complete 
   list. Starting from any display point, if the user uses the cursor 
   keys or clicks on the scroll bar to request that the list be scrolled 
   up or down by one entry, the displayed contents should be updated to 
   reflect this. Similarly the list should be displayed correctly when 
   the user requests a page scroll up or down. Finally, when the user 
   types characters in the type-down window, the displayed contents of 
   the list should "jump" or "seek" to the appropriate point within the 
   list. For example, if the user types "B", the displayed list could 
   center around the first user with a name beginning with the letter 
   "B". When this happens, the scroll bar slider should also be updated 
   to reflect the new relative location within the list. 
    
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   This document defines a request control which extends the LDAP search 
   operation. Always used in conjunction with the server side sorting 
   control [SSS], this allows a client to retrieve selected portions of 
   large search result set in a fashion suitable for the implementation 
   of a virtual list view. 
    
    
5. Client-Server Interaction 
    
   The Virtual List View control extends a regular LDAP Search operation 
   which must also include a server-side sorting control [SSS]. Rather 
   than returning the complete set of appropriate SearchResultEntry 
   messages, the server is instructed to return a contiguous subset of 
   those entries, taken from the sorted result set, centered around a 
   particular target entry. Henceforth, in the interests of brevity, the 
   sorted search result set will be referred to as "the list". 
    
   The sort control MAY contain any sort specification valid for the 
   server. The attributeType field in the first SortKeyList sequence 
   element has special significance for "typedown". 
    
   The desired target entry and the number of entries to be returned, 
   both before and after that target entry in the list, are determined 
   by the client's VirtualListViewRequest control. 
    
   When the server returns the set of entries to the client, it attaches 
   a VirtualListViewResponse control to the SearchResultDone message. 
   The server returns in this control: its current estimate for the list 
   content count, the location within the list corresponding to the 
   target entry, any error codes, and optionally a context identifier. 
    
   The target entry is specified in the VirtualListViewRequest control 
   by one of two methods. The first method is for the client to indicate 
   the target entry's offset within the list. The second way is for the 
   client to supply an attribute assertion value. The value is compared 
   against the values of the attribute specified as the primary sort key 
   in the sort control attached to the search operation. The first sort 
   key in the SortKeyList is the primary sort key. The target entry is 
   the first entry in the list with value greater than or equal to (in 
   the primary sort order), the presented value. The order is determined 
   by rules defined in [SSS]. Selection of the target entry by this 
   means is designed to implement "typedown". Note that it is possible 
   that no entry satisfies these conditions, in which case there is no 
   target entry. This condition is indicated by the server returning the 
   special value contentCount + 1 in the target position field.  
    
   Because the server may not have an accurate estimate of the number of 
   entries in the list, and to take account of cases where the list size 
   is changing during the time the user browses the list, and because 
   the client needs a way to indicate specific list targets "beginning" 
    
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   and "end", offsets within the list are transmitted between client and 
   server as ratios---offset to content count. The server sends its 
   latest estimate as to the number of entries in the list (content 
   count) to the client in every response control. The client sends its 
   assumed value for the content count in every request control. The 
   server examines the content count and offsets presented by the client 
   and computes the corresponding offsets within the list, based on its 
   own idea of the content count. 
    
        Si = Sc * (Ci / Cc) 
    
        Where: 
        Si is the actual list offset used by the server 
        Sc is the server's estimate for content count 
        Ci is the client's submitted offset 
        Cc is the client's submitted content count 
        The result is rounded to the nearest integer. 
    
   If the content count is stable, and the client returns to the server 
   the content count most recently received, Cc = Sc and the offsets 
   transmitted become the actual server list offsets. 
    
   The following special cases exist when the client is specifying the 
   offset and content count:  
   - an offset of one and a content count of non-one (Ci = 1, Cc != 1) 
     indicates that the target is the first entry in the list. 
   - equivalent values (Ci = Cc) indicate that the target is the last 
     entry in the list. 
   - a content count of zero, and a non-zero offset (Cc = 0, Ci != 0) 
     means the client has no idea what the content count is, the server 
     MUST use its own content count estimate in place of the client's. 
    
   Because the server always returns contentCount and targetPosition, 
   the client can always determine which of the returned entries is the 
   target entry. Where the number of entries returned is the same as the 
   number requested, the client is able to identify the target by simple 
   arithmetic. Where the number of entries returned is not the same as 
   the number requested (because the requested range crosses the 
   beginning or end of the list, or both), the client must use the 
   target position and content count values returned by the server to 
   identify the target entry. For example, suppose that 10 entries 
   before and 10 after the target were requested, but the server returns 
   13 entries, a content count of 100 and a target position of 3. The 
   client can determine that the first entry must be entry number 1 in 
   the list, therefore the 13 entries returned are the first 13 entries 
   in the list, and the target is the third one. 
    
   A server-generated context identifier MAY be returned to clients. A 
   client receiving a context identifier SHOULD return it unchanged in a 
   subsequent request which relates to the same list. The purpose of 

    
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   this interaction is to enhance the performance and effectiveness of 
   servers which employ approximate positioning. 
    
    
6. The Controls 
    
   Support for the virtual list view control extension is indicated by 
   the presence of the OID "2.16.840.1.113730.3.4.9" in the 
   supportedControl attribute of a server's root DSE. 
    
6.1. Request Control 
    
   This control is included in the SearchRequest message as part of the 
   controls field of the LDAPMessage, as defined in Section 4.1.12 of 
   [LDAPv3]. The controlType is set to "2.16.840.1.113730.3.4.9". The 
   criticality SHOULD be set to TRUE. If this control is included in a 
   SearchRequest message, a Server Side Sorting request control [SSS] 
   MUST also be present in the message. The controlValue is an OCTET 
   STRING whose value is the BER-encoding of the following SEQUENCE: 
    
   VirtualListViewRequest ::= SEQUENCE { 
          beforeCount    INTEGER (0..maxInt), 
          afterCount     INTEGER (0..maxInt), 
          CHOICE { 
               byoffset            [0] SEQUENCE { 
                    offset          INTEGER (0 .. maxInt), 
                    contentCount    INTEGER (0 .. maxInt) }, 
               greaterThanOrEqual  [1] AssertionValue }, 
          contextID     OCTET STRING OPTIONAL } 
    
   beforeCount indicates how many entries before the target entry the 
   client wants the server to send. afterCount indicates the number of 
   entries after the target entry the client wants the server to send. 
   offset and contentCount identify the target entry as detailed in 
   section 4. greaterThanOrEqual is an attribute assertion value defined 
   in [LDAPv3]. If present, the value supplied in greaterThanOrEqual is 
   used to determine the target entry by comparison with the values of 
   the attribute specified as the primary sort key. The first list entry 
   who's value is no less than (less than or equal to when the sort 
   order is reversed) the supplied value is the target entry. If 
   present, the contextID field contains the value of the most recently 
   received contextID field from a VirtualListViewResponse control. The 
   type AssertionValue and value maxInt are defined in [LDAPv3]. 
   contextID values have no validity outwith the connection on which 
   they were received. That is, a client should not submit a contextID 
   which it received from another connection, a connection now closed, 
   or a different server. 
    
    
6.2. Response Control 
    
    
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   This control is included in the SearchResultDone message as part of 
   the controls field of the LDAPMessage, as defined in Section 4.1.12 
   of [LDAPv3]. 
    
   The controlType is set to "2.16.840.1.113730.3.4.10". The criticality 
   is FALSE (MAY be absent). The controlValue is an OCTET STRING, whose 
   value is the BER encoding of a value of the following SEQUENCE: 
    
   VirtualListViewResponse ::= SEQUENCE { 
          targetPosition    INTEGER (0 .. maxInt), 
          contentCount     INTEGER (0 .. maxInt), 
          virtualListViewResult ENUMERATED { 
               success (0), 
               operationsError (1), 
               unwillingToPerform (53), 
               insufficientAccessRights (50), 
               busy (51), 
               timeLimitExceeded (3), 
               adminLimitExceeded (11), 
               sortControlMissing (60), 
               offsetRangeError (61), 
               other (80) }, 
          contextID     OCTET STRING OPTIONAL } 
    
   targetPosition gives the list offset for the target entry. 
   contentCount gives the server's estimate of the current number of 
   entries in the list. Together these give sufficient information for 
   the client to update a list box slider position to match the newly 
   retrieved entries and identify the target entry. The contentCount 
   value returned SHOULD be used in a subsequent VirtualListViewRequest 
   control. contextID is a server-defined octet string. If present, the 
   contents of the contextID field SHOULD be returned to the server by a 
   client in a subsequent VirtualListViewRequest control. 
    
   The virtualListViewResult codes which are common to the LDAP 
   searchResponse (adminLimitExceeded, timeLimitExceeded, busy, 
   operationsError, unwillingToPerform, insufficientAccessRights) have 
   the same meanings as defined in [LDAPv3], but they pertain 
   specifically to the VLV operation. For example, the server could 
   exceed an administration limit processing a SearchRequest with a 
   VirtualListViewRequest control. However, the same administration 
   limit would not be exceeded should the same SearchRequest be 
   submitted by the client without the VirtualListViewRequest control. 
   In this case, the client can determine that an administration limit 
   has been exceeded in servicing the VLV request, and can if it chooses 
   resubmit the SearchRequest without the VirtualListViewRequest 
   control. 
    
   insufficientAccessRights means that the server denied the client 
   permission to perform the VLV operation. 
    
    
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   If the server determines that the results of the search presented 
   exceed the range specified in INTEGER values, it MUST return 
   offsetRangeError. 
    
6.2.1 virtualListViewError 
 
   A new LDAP error is introduced called virtualListViewError. Its value 
   is 76. 
   [Note to the IESG/IANA/RFC Editor: the value 76 has been suggested by 
   experts, had expert review, and is currently being used by some 
   implementations. The intent is to have this number designated as an 
   official IANA assigned LDAP Result Code (see draft-ietf-ldapbis-iana- 
   xx.txt, Section 3.5)] 
    
   If the server returns any code other than success (0) for 
   virtualListViewResult, then the server SHOULD return 
   virtualListViewError as the resultCode of the SearchResultDone 
   message. 
    
    
7. Protocol Example 
    
   Here we walk through the client-server interaction for a specific 
   virtual list view example: The task is to display a list of all 78564 
   people in the US company "Ace Industry". This will be done by 
   creating a graphical user interface object to display the list 
   contents, and by repeatedly sending different versions of the same 
   virtual list view search request to the server. The list view 
   displays 20 entries on the screen at a time. 
    
   We form a search with baseDN "o=Ace Industry, c=us"; search scope 
   subtree; filter "objectClass=inetOrgPerson". We attach a server sort 
   order control to the search, specifying ascending sort on attribute 
   "cn". To this base search, we attach a virtual list view request 
   control with contents determined by the user activity and send the 
   search to the server. We display the results from each search in the 
   list window and update the slider position. 
    
   When the list view is first displayed, we want to initialize the 
   contents showing the beginning of the list. Therefore, we set 
   beforeCount = 0, afterCount = 19, contentCount = 0, offset = 1 and 
   send the request to the server. The server duly returns the first 20 
   entries in the list, plus the content count = 78564 and 
   targetPosition = 1. We therefore leave the scroll bar slider at its 
   current location (the top of its range). 
    
   Say that next the user drags the scroll bar slider down to the bottom 
   of its range. We now wish to display the last 20 entries in the list, 
   so we set beforeCount = 19, afterCount = 0, contentCount = 78564, 
   offset = 78564 and send the request to the server. The server returns 

    
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   the last 20 entries in the list, plus the content count = 78564 and 
   targetPosition = 78564. 
    
   Next the user presses a page up key. Our page size is 20, so we set 
   beforeCount = 0, afterCount = 19, contentCount = 78564, offset = 
   78564-19-20 and send the request to the server. The server returns 
   the preceding 20 entries in the list, plus the content count = 78564 
   and targetPosition = 78525. 
    
   Now the user grabs the scroll bar slider and drags it to 68% of the 
   way down its travel. 68% of 78564 is 53424 so we set beforeCount = 9, 
   afterCount = 10, contentCount = 78564, offset = 53424 and send the 
   request to the server. The server returns the preceding 20 entries in 
   the list, plus the content count = 78564 and targetPosition = 53424. 
    
   Lastly, the user types the letter "B". We set beforeCount = 9, 
   afterCount = 10 and greaterThanOrEqual = "B". The server finds the 
   first entry in the list not less than "B", let's say "Babs Jensen", 
   and returns the nine preceding entries, the target entry, and the 
   proceeding 10 entries. The server returns content count = 78564 and 
   targetPosition = 5234 and so the client updates its scroll bar slider 
   to 6.7% of full scale. 
    
    
8. Notes for Implementers 
    
   While the feature is expected to be generally useful for arbitrary 
   search and sort specifications, it is specifically designed for those 
   cases where the result set is very large. The intention is that this 
   feature be implemented efficiently by means of pre-computed indices 
   pertaining to a set of specific cases. For example, an offset 
   relating to "all the employees in the local organization, sorted by 
   surname" would be a common case. 
    
   The intention for client software is that the feature should fit 
   easily with the host platform's graphical user interface facilities 
   for the display of scrolling lists. Thus the task of the client 
   implementers should be one of reformatting up the requests for 
   information received from the list view code to match the format of 
   the virtual list view request and response controls. 
    
   Client implementers should note that any offset value returned by the 
   server may be approximate. Do not design clients > which only operate 
   correctly when offsets are exact. 
    
   Server implementers using indexing technology which features 
   approximate positioning should consider returning context identifiers 
   to clients. The use of a context identifier will allow the server to 
   distinguish between client requests which relate to different 
   displayed lists on the client. Consequently the server can decide 
   more intelligently whether to reposition an existing database cursor 
    
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   accurately to within a short distance of its current position, or to 
   reposition to an approximate position. Thus the client will see 
   precise offsets for "short" repositioning (e.g. paging up or down), 
   but approximate offsets for a "long" reposition (e.g. a slider 
   movement). 
    
   Server implementers are free to return status code unwillingToPerform 
   should their server be unable to service any particular VLV search. 
   This might be because the resolution of the search is computationally 
   infeasible, or because excessive server resources would be required 
   to service the search. 
    
   Client implementers should note that this control is only defined on 
   a client interaction with a single server. If a server returns 
   referrals as a part of its response to the search request, the client 
   is responsible for deciding when and how to apply this control to the 
   referred-to servers, and how to collate the results from multiple 
   servers. 
    
    
9. Relationship to "Simple Paged Results" 
    
   These controls are designed to support the virtual list view, which 
   has proved hard to implement with the Simple Paged Results mechanism 
   [SPaged]. However, the controls described here support any operation 
   possible with the Simple Paged Results mechanism. The two mechanisms 
   are not complementary; rather one has a superset of the other's 
   features. One area where the mechanism presented here is not a strict 
   superset of the Simple Paged Results scheme is that here we require a 
   sort order to be specified. No such requirement is made for paged 
   results. 
    
    
10. Security Considerations 
    
   Server implementers may wish to consider whether clients are able to 
   consume excessive server resources in requesting virtual list 
   operations. Access control to the feature itself; configuration 
   options limiting the featureÆs use to certain predetermined search 
   base DNs and filters; throttling mechanisms designed to limit the 
   ability for one client to soak up server resources, may be 
   appropriate. 
    
   Consideration should be given as to whether a client will be able to 
   retrieve the complete contents, or a significant subset of the 
   complete contents of the directory using this feature. This may be 
   undesirable in some circumstances and consequently it may be 
   necessary to enforce some access control. 
    


    
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   Clients can, using this control, determine how many entries are 
   contained within a portion of the DIT. This may constitute a security 
   hazard. Again, access controls may be appropriate. 
    
   Server implementers SHOULD exercise caution concerning the content of 
   the contextID. Should the contextID contain internal server state, it 
   may be possible for a malicious client to use that information to 
   gain unauthorized access to information. 
    
    
11. Acknowledgements 
    
   Chris Weider, Anoop Anantha, and Michael Armijo of Microsoft co-
   authored previous versions of this document. 
    
    
12. References 
    
    
   [LDAPv3]    Wahl, M., Kille, S. and T. Howes, "Lightweight Directory 
               Access Protocol (v3)", Internet Standard, RFC 2251, 
               December, 1997. 
    
   [SPaged]    Weider, C., Herron, A., Anantha, A. and T. Howes, "LDAP 
               Control Extension for Simple Paged Results Manipulation", 
               RFC2696, September 1999. 
    
   [SSS]       Wahl, M., Herron, A. and T. Howes, "LDAP Control 
               Extension for Server Side Sorting of Search Results", 
               RFC 2891, August, 2000. 
                
   [Bradner97] Bradner, S., "Key Words for use in RFCs to Indicate 
               Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997. 
                
    
    















    
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13. Authors' Addresses 
    
        David Boreham 
        Bozeman Pass, Inc 
        +1 406 222 7093 
        david@bozemanpass.com 
         
        Jim Sermersheim 
        Novell, Inc
        1800 South Novell Place 
        Provo, Utah 84606, USA 
        jimse@novell.com 
         
        Asaf Kashi 
        Microsoft Corporation 
        1 Microsoft Way 
        Redmond, WA 98052, USA 
        +1 425 882-8080 
        asafk@microsoft.com 
         
    
14. Full Copyright Statement 
    
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   kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are 
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