--- name: "ldap_result" section: "3" platform: "linux" package: "libldap" version: "2.7.2-2" release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01" platforms: ["linux", "macos"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/ldap_result" --- # ldap\_result(3) Wait for the result of an LDAP operation ## NAME ldap\_result - Wait for the result of an LDAP operation ## LIBRARY OpenLDAP LDAP (libldap, -lldap) ## SYNOPSIS ``` #include ``` **int ldap\_result( LDAP \*ld, int msgid, int all,**\ **struct timeval \*timeout, LDAPMessage \*\*result );** **int ldap\_msgfree( LDAPMessage \*msg );** **int ldap\_msgtype( LDAPMessage \*msg );** **int ldap\_msgid( LDAPMessage \*msg );** ## DESCRIPTION **The** **ldap\_result()** **routine is used to wait for and return the result of** **an operation previously initiated by one of the LDAP asynchronous** **operation routines (e.g.,** [**ldap\_search\_ext**(3)](/ldap_search_ext/3.md), [**ldap\_modify\_ext**(3)](/ldap_modify_ext/3.md), **etc.). Those routines all return -1 in case of error, and an** **invocation identifier upon successful initiation of the operation. The** **invocation identifier is picked by the library and is guaranteed to be** **unique across the LDAP session. It can be used to request the result** **of a specific operation from** **ldap\_result()** **through the** *msgid* **parameter.** **The** **ldap\_result()** **routine will block or not, depending upon the setting** **of the** *timeout* **parameter.** **If timeout is not a NULL pointer, it specifies a maximum** **interval to wait for the selection to complete. If timeout** **is a NULL pointer, the LDAP\_OPT\_TIMEOUT value set by** [**ldap\_set\_option**(3)](/ldap_set_option/3.md) **is used. With the default setting,** **the select blocks indefinitely. To** **effect a poll, the timeout argument should be a non-NULL** **pointer, pointing to a zero-valued timeval structure.** **To obtain the behavior of the default setting, bypassing any value set by** [**ldap\_set\_option**(3)](/ldap_set_option/3.md), **set to -1 the** *tv\_sec* **field of the** *timeout* **parameter.** **See** [**select**(2)](/select/2.md) **for further details.** **If the result of a specific operation is required,** *msgid* **should** **be set to the invocation identifier returned when the operation was** **initiated, otherwise LDAP\_RES\_ANY or LDAP\_RES\_UNSOLICITED should be** **supplied to wait for any or unsolicited response.** **The** *all* **parameter, if non-zero, causes** **ldap\_result()** **to return all responses with msgid, otherwise only the** **next response is returned. This is commonly used to obtain all** **the responses of a search operation.** **A search response is made up of zero or** **more search entries, zero or more search references, and zero or** **more extended partial responses followed by a search result. If** *all* **is set to 0, search entries will be returned one at a** **time as they come in, via separate calls to** **ldap\_result()**. **If it's set to 1, the search** **response will only be returned in its entirety, i.e., after all entries,** **all references, all extended partial responses, and the final search** **result have been received.** ## RETURN VALUE **Upon success, the type of the result received is returned and the** *result* **parameter will contain the result of the operation;** **otherwise, the** *result* **parameter is undefined. This** **result should be passed to the LDAP parsing routines,** [**ldap\_first\_message**(3)](/ldap_first_message/3.md) **and friends, for interpretation.** **The possible result types returned are:** ``` LDAP_RES_BIND (0x61) LDAP_RES_SEARCH_ENTRY (0x64) LDAP_RES_SEARCH_REFERENCE (0x73) LDAP_RES_SEARCH_RESULT (0x65) LDAP_RES_MODIFY (0x67) LDAP_RES_ADD (0x69) LDAP_RES_DELETE (0x6b) LDAP_RES_MODDN (0x6d) LDAP_RES_COMPARE (0x6f) LDAP_RES_EXTENDED (0x78) LDAP_RES_INTERMEDIATE (0x79) ``` **The** **ldap\_msgfree()** **routine is used to free the memory allocated for** **result(s) by** **ldap\_result()** **or** [**ldap\_search\_ext\_s**(3)](/ldap_search_ext_s/3.md) **and friends.** **It takes a pointer to the result or result chain to be freed and returns** **the type of the last message in the chain.** **If the parameter is NULL, the function does nothing and returns zero.** **The** **ldap\_msgtype()** **routine returns the type of a message.** **The** **ldap\_msgid()** **routine returns the message id of a message.** ## ERRORS **ldap\_result()** **returns -1 if something bad happens, and zero if the** **timeout specified was exceeded.** **ldap\_msgtype()** **and** **ldap\_msgid()** **return -1 on error.** ## BUGS **When there are multiple messages in** **\*\*result** **including a result message (common with searches), the return value of** **ldap\_result** **will vary depending on various factors. Some implementations have started** **depending on this behaviour and as such it is unlikely to be be fixed in the** **2.x release series. To get the actual message type you're interested, use** **ldap\_first\_message** **or** **ldap\_parse\_result** **as needed.** ## SEE ALSO [**ldap**(3)](/ldap/3.md), [**ldap\_first\_message**(3)](/ldap_first_message/3.md), [**select**(2)](/select/2.md) ## ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS **OpenLDAP Software** **is developed and maintained by The OpenLDAP Project \.** **OpenLDAP Software** **is derived from the University of Michigan LDAP 3.3 Release.**