Using Internal Operations

This chapter shows how to use internal search, add, modify, modify RDN, and delete operations.

When to Use Internal Operations

Internal operations are internal in the sense that they are initiated not by external requests from clients, but internally by plug-ins. Use internal operation calls when your plug-in needs Directory Server to perform an operation for which no client request exists.

Issues With Internal Operations

You set up the parameter blocks and handle all memory management directly when developing with internal operations. Debug sessions with optimized binaries such as, the libraries that are delivered with the product, can be tedious. Review the code carefully. If you want to, work with a partner who can point out errors that you miss. Memory management mistakes around internal operation calls lead more quickly to incomprehensible segmentation faults than other calls in the plug-in API.

Furthermore, internal operations result in updates to some internal caches but not others. For example, changes to access control instructions cause updates to the access control cache. Internal operation changes to attributes used in CoS and roles do not cause CoS and roles caches to be updated.

Finding the Internal Operations Example

The plug-in code used in this chapter can be found in install-path/examples/internal.c.