Storing Information in Multiple Languages

objectClass: organizationalPerson

objectClass: inetOrgPerson

cn: Robert Wong

cn: Bob Wong

sn: Wong

givenName: Robert

givenName: Bob

mail: bwong@example.com

userPassword: {sha}nn2msx761

telephoneNumber: 2881

roomNumber: 211

ou: Manufacturing

ou: people

dn: ou=Groups,dc=example,dc=com

objectclass: top

objectclass: organizationalUnit

ou: groups

description: Fictional example organizational unit

6. Storing Information in Multiple Languages

If the directory contains a single language, it is not necessary to do anything special to add a new entry to the directory. However, if an organization is multinational, it may be necessary to store information in multiple languages so that users in different locales can view directory information in their own language.

When information in the directory is represented in multiple languages, the server associates language tags with attribute values. When a new entry is added, the attribute values used in the RDN (relative distinguished name, the naming attribute) must be provided without any language codes.

Multiple languages can be stored for a single attribute. In this case, the attribute types are the same, but each value has a different language code.

For a list of the languages supported by Directory Server and their associated language tags, see Section 2, “Identifying Supported Locales”.

NOTE

The language tag has no effect on how the string is stored within the directory. All object class and attribute strings are stored using UTF-8. The user is responsible for converting the data used in the LDIF to UTF-8. The iconv or uconv command provided by most operating systems can be used to convert data from the native characterset into UTF-8.

For example, Example Corporation has offices in the United States and France and wants

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HP UX Red Hat Direry Server Software manual Storing Information in Multiple Languages