NAME

       ldap_dup, ldap_destroy, - Duplicate and destroy LDAP session handles

LIBRARY

       OpenLDAP LDAP (libldap, -lldap)

SYNOPSIS

       #include <ldap.h>

       LDAP *ldap_dup(
              LDAP *old );

       int ldap_destroy(
              LDAP *old );

DESCRIPTION

       ldap_dup()  duplicates  an  existing LDAP (LDAP *) session handle.  The new session handle
       may be used concurrently with the original session handle.   In  a  threaded  environment,
       different  threads  may execute concurrent requests on the same connection/session without
       fear of contamination.  Each session handle manages its own private error results.

       ldap_destroy() destroys an existing session handle.

       The ldap_dup() and ldap_destroy() functions are used in conjunction with a  "thread  safe"
       version of libldap to enable operation thread safe API calls, so that a single session may
       be simultaneously used across multiple threads with consistent error handling.

       When a session is created through the  use  of  one  of  the  session  creation  functions
       including  ldap_open(3),  ldap_init(3),  ldap_initialize(3)  or  ldap_init_fd(3) an LDAP *
       session handle is returned to the application.  The session handle may be  shared  amongst
       threads,  however  the  error  codes  are  unique  to  a session handle.  Multiple threads
       performing different operations using the same session handle will result in  inconsistent
       error codes and return values.

       To prevent this confusion, ldap_dup() is used duplicate an existing session handle so that
       multiple threads can share the session, and  maintain  consistent  error  information  and
       results.

       The  message  queues for a session are shared between sibling session handles.  Results of
       operations on a sibling session handles are accessible to all the sibling session handles.
       Applications  desiring  results  associated  with  a specific operation should provide the
       appropriate msgid to ldap_result().  Applications should avoid calling ldap_result()  with
       LDAP_RES_ANY  as  that  may  "steal" and return results in the calling thread that another
       operation in a different  thread,  using  a  different  session  handle,  may  require  to
       complete.

       When  ldap_unbind()  is  called on a session handle with siblings, all the siblings become
       invalid.

       Siblings must be destroyed using ldap_destroy().  Session handle resources associated with
       the  original  (LDAP  *)  will  be freed when the last session handle is destroyed or when
       ldap_unbind() is called, if no other session handles currently exist.

ERRORS

       If an error occurs, ldap_dup() will return NULL and errno  should  be  set  appropriately.
       ldap_destroy() will directly return the LDAP code associated to the error (or LDAP_SUCCESS
       in case of success); errno should be set as well whenever appropriate.

SEE ALSO

       ldap_open(3), ldap_init(3), ldap_initialize(3), ldap_init_fd(3), errno(3)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

       This work is based on the previously proposed LDAP  C  API  Concurrency  Extensions  draft
       (draft-zeilenga-ldap-c-api-concurrency-00.txt) effort.  OpenLDAP Software is developed and
       maintained by The  OpenLDAP  Project  <http://www.openldap.org/>.   OpenLDAP  Software  is
       derived from the University of Michigan LDAP 3.3 Release.