BER_DECODE(3LDAP)BER_DECODE(3LDAP)NAME
ber_decode, ber_alloc_t, ber_free, ber_bvdup, ber_init, ber_flatten,
ber_get_next, ber_skip_tag, ber_peek_tag, ber_scanf, ber_get_int,
ber_get_stringa, ber_get_stringal, ber_get_stringb, ber_get_null,
ber_get_boolean, ber_get_bitstring, ber_first_element, ber_next_ele‐
ment, ber_bvfree, ber_bvecfree - Basic Encoding Rules library decoding
functions
SYNOPSIS
cc[ flag... ] file... -lldap[ library... ]
#include <lber.h>
BerElement *ber_alloc_t(int options);
struct berval *ber_bvdup(const struct berval *bv);
void ber_free(BerElement *ber, int freebuf);
BerElement *ber_init(const struct berval *bv);
int ber_flatten(BerElement *ber, struct berval **bvPtr);
ber_tag_tber_get_next(Sockbuf *sb, ber_len_t *len, BerElement *ber);
ber_tag_t ber_skip_tag(BerElement *ber, ber_len_t *len);
ber_tag_t ber_peek_tag(BerElement *ber, ber_len_t *len);
ber_tag_t ber_get_int(BerElement *ber, ber_int_t *num);
ber_tag_t ber_get_stringb(BerElement *ber, char *buf,
ber_len_t *len);
ber_tag_t ber_get_stringa(BerElement *ber, char **buf);
ber_tag_t ber_get_stringal(BerElement *ber, struct berval **bv);
ber_tag_t ber_get_null(BerElement *ber);
ber_tag_t ber_get_boolean(BerElement *ber, int *boolval);
ber_tag_t ber_get_bitstringa(BerElement *ber, char **buf,
ber_len_t *len);
ber_tag_t ber_first_element(BerElement *ber, ber_len_t *len,
char **last);
ber_tag_t ber_next_element(BerElement *ber, ber_len_t *len,
char *last);
ber_tag_t ber_scanf(BerElement *ber, const char *fmt [, arg...]);
void ber_bvfree(struct berval *bv);
void ber_bvecfree(struct berval **bvec);
DESCRIPTION
These functions provide a subfunction interface to a simplified imple‐
mentation of the Basic Encoding Rules of ASN.1. The version of BER
these functions support is the one defined for the LDAP protocol. The
encoding rules are the same as BER, except that only definite form
lengths are used, and bitstrings and octet strings are always encoded
in primitive form. In addition, these lightweight BER functions
restrict tags and class to fit in a single octet (this means the actual
tag must be less than 31). When a "tag"is specified in the descriptions
below, it refers to the tag, class, and primitive or constructed bit in
the first octet of the encoding. This man page describes the decoding
functions in the lber library. See ber_encode(3LDAP) for details on
the corresponding encoding functions.
Normally, the only functions that need be called by an application are
ber_get_next() to get the next BER element and ber_scanf() to do the
actual decoding. In some cases, ber_peek_tag() may also need to be
called in normal usage. The other functions are provided for those
applications that need more control than ber_scanf() provides. In gen‐
eral, these functions return the tag of the element decoded, or −1 if
an error occurred.
The ber_get_next() function is used to read the next BER element from
the given Sockbuf, sb. A Sockbuf consists of the descriptor (usually
socket, but a file descriptor works just as well) from which to read,
and a BerElement structure used to maintain a buffer. On the first
call, the sb_ber struct should be zeroed. It strips off and returns
the leading tag byte, strips off and returns the length of the entire
element in len, and sets up ber for subsequent calls to ber_scanf(),
and all to decode the element.
The ber_peek_tag() function returns the tag of the next element to be
parsed in the BerElement argument. The length of this element is stored
in the *lenPtr argument. LBER_DEFAULT is returned if there is no fur‐
ther data to be read. The decoding position within the ber argument is
unchanged by this call; that is, the fact that ber_peek_tag() has been
called does not affect future use of ber.
The ber_skip_tag() function is similar to ber_peek_tag(), except that
the state pointer in the BerElement argument is advanced past the first
tag and length, and is pointed to the value part of the next element.
This function should only be used with constructed types and situations
when a BER encoding is used as the value of an OCTET STRING. The
length of the value is stored in *lenPtr.
The ber_scanf() function is used to decode a BER element in much the
same way that scanf(3C) works. It reads from ber, a pointer to a
BerElement such as returned by ber_get_next(), interprets the bytes
according to the format string fmt, and stores the results in its addi‐
tional arguments. The format string contains conversion specifications
which are used to direct the interpretation of the BER element. The
format string can contain the following characters.
a
Octet string. A char ** should be supplied. Memory is allocated,
filled with the contents of the octet string, null-terminated, and
returned in the parameter.
s
Octet string. A char * buffer should be supplied, followed by a
pointer to an integer initialized to the size of the buffer. Upon
return, the null-terminated octet string is put into the buffer,
and the integer is set to the actual size of the octet string.
O
Octet string. A struct ber_val ** should be supplied, which upon
return points to a memory allocated struct berval containing the
octet string and its length. ber_bvfree() can be called to free
the allocated memory.
b
Boolean. A pointer to an integer should be supplied.
i
Integer. A pointer to an integer should be supplied.
B
Bitstring. A char ** should be supplied which will point to the
memory allocated bits, followed by an unsigned long *, which will
point to the length (in bits) of the bitstring returned.
n
Null. No parameter is required. The element is simply skipped if
it is recognized.
v
Sequence of octet strings. A char *** should be supplied, which
upon return points to a memory allocated null-terminated array of
char *'s containing the octet strings. NULL is returned if the
sequence is empty.
V
Sequence of octet strings with lengths. A struct berval *** should
be supplied, which upon return points to a memory allocated, null-
terminated array of struct berval *'s containing the octet strings
and their lengths. NULL is returned if the sequence is empty.
ber_bvecfree() can be called to free the allocated memory.
x
Skip element. The next element is skipped.
{
Begin sequence. No parameter is required. The initial sequence
tag and length are skipped.
}
End sequence. No parameter is required and no action is taken.
[
Begin set. No parameter is required. The initial set tag and
length are skipped.
]
End set. No parameter is required and no action is taken.
The ber_get_int() function tries to interpret the next element as an
integer, returning the result in num. The tag of whatever it finds is
returned on success, -1 on failure.
The ber_get_stringb() function is used to read an octet string into a
pre-allocated buffer. The len parameter should be initialized to the
size of the buffer, and will contain the length of the octet string
read upon return. The buffer should be big enough to take the octet
string value plus a terminating NULL byte.
The ber_get_stringa() function is used to allocate memory space into
which an octet string is read.
The ber_get_stringal() function is used to allocate memory space into
which an octet string and its length are read. It takes a struct
berval **, and returns the result in this parameter.
The ber_get_null() function is used to read a NULL element. It returns
the tag of the element it skips over.
The ber_get_boolean() function is used to read a boolean value. It is
called the same way that ber_get_int() is called.
The ber_get_bitstringa() function is used to read a bitstring value. It
takes a char ** which will hold the allocated memory bits, followed by
an unsigned long *, which will point to the length (in bits) of the
bitstring returned.
The ber_first_element() function is used to return the tag and length
of the first element in a set or sequence. It also returns in last a
magic cookie parameter that should be passed to subsequent calls to
ber_next_element(), which returns similar information.
The ber_alloc_t() function constructs and returns BerElement. A null
pointer is returned on error. The options field contains a bitwise-OR
of options which are to be used when generating the encoding of this
BerElement. One option is defined and must always be supplied:
#define LBER_USE_DER 0x01
When this option is present, lengths will always be encoded in the min‐
imum number of octets. Note that this option does not cause values of
sets and sequences to be rearranged in tag and byte order, so these
functions are not suitable for generating DER output as defined in
X.509 and X.680
The ber_init function constructs a BerElement and returns a new BerEle‐
ment containing a copy of the data in the bv argument. The ber_init
function returns the null pointer on error.
The ber_free() function frees a BerElement which is returned from the
API calls ber_alloc_t() or ber_init(). Each BerElement must be freed by
the caller. The second argument freebuf should always be set to 1 to
ensure that the internal buffer used by the BER functions is freed as
well as the BerElement container itself.
The ber_bvdup() function returns a copy of a berval. The bv_val field
in the returned berval points to a different area of memory as the
bv_val field in the argument berval. The null pointer is returned on
error (that is, is out of memory).
The ber_flatten() function allocates a struct berval whose contents
are BER encoding taken from the ber argument. The bvPtr pointer points
to the returned berval, which must be freed using ber_bvfree(). This
function returns 0 on success and −1 on error.
EXAMPLES
Example 1 Assume the variable ber contains a lightweight BER encoding
of the following ASN.1 object:
AlmostASearchRequest := SEQUENCE {
baseObject DistinguishedName,
scope ENUMERATED {
baseObject (0),
singleLevel (1),
wholeSubtree (2)
},
derefAliases ENUMERATED {
neverDerefaliases (0),
derefInSearching (1),
derefFindingBaseObj (2),
alwaysDerefAliases (3N)
},
sizelimit INTEGER (0 .. 65535),
timelimit INTEGER (0 .. 65535),
attrsOnly BOOLEAN,
attributes SEQUENCE OF AttributeType
}
Example 2 The element can be decoded using ber_scanf() as follows.
int scope, ali, size, time, attrsonly;
char *dn, **attrs;
if ( ber_scanf( ber, "{aiiiib{v}}", &dn, &scope, &ali,
&size, &time, &attrsonly, &attrs ) == -1 )
/* error */
else
/* success */
ERRORS
If an error occurs during decoding, generally these functions return
−1.
NOTES
The return values for all of these functions are declared in the
<lber.h> header. Some functions may allocate memory which must be
freed by the calling application.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for a description of the following attributes:
┌────────────────────┬─────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├────────────────────┼─────────────────┤
│Interface Stability │ Committed │
└────────────────────┴─────────────────┘
SEE ALSOber_encode(3LDAP), attributes(5)
Yeong, W., Howes, T., and Hardcastle-Kille, S., "Lightweight Directory
Access Protocol", OSI-DS-26, April 1992.
Information Processing - Open Systems Interconnection - Model and Nota‐
tion - Service Definition - Specification of Basic Encoding Rules for
Abstract Syntax Notation One, International Organization for Standard‐
ization, International Standard 8825.
May 15, 2009 BER_DECODE(3LDAP)