System.DirectoryServices.DirectorySearcher.Timeout and ServerTimeLimit not working for non AD LDAP directory (GDS)

Tim Huffam — Thu, 18 May 2006 20:34:00 GMT

I've been running several searches against a GDS LDAP directory - and
the Timeout and ServerTimeLimit properties of the DirectorySearcher
class appear to have no effect.

After further testing I've discovered that the problem is caused because I was using sub second timeout periods eg 500ms - and the LDAP server I'm accessing (GDS) only supports timeout periods of whole number seconds.

HTH

Tim

ADSI error: The directory datatype cannot be converted to/from a native DS datatype. When retrieving DS property value.

Tim Huffam — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 00:17:00 GMT

This occurs when using ADSI (ActiveDs.dll) when retreiving a property value whose type (in the schema) is not the same as that specified in the method you use.

In my case I was trying to access a property which was a dn (distinguished name), however the method I was using to retrieve the value was defaulting to type ADSTYPEENUM.ADSTYPE_CASE_IGNORE_STRING. This caused the following error:

Exception Information
*********************************************
Exception Type: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException
ErrorCode: -2147463156
Message: The directory datatype cannot be converted to/from a native DS datatype

TargetSite: System.Object GetPropertyItem(System.String, Int32)
HelpLink: NULL
Source: Active Directory

StackTrace Information
*********************************************
at ActiveDs.IADsPropertyList.GetPropertyItem(String bstrName, Int32 lnADsType)
...

When I explicitly specify the correct ADS type, in this case ADSTYPEENUM.ADSTYPE_DN_STRING, it works a treat.

Faulty code:

...
    SearchResultCollection resultColl = dirSearcher.FindAll();
    DirectoryEntry localDirectoryEntry = resultColl[0].GetDirectoryEntry();
    localDirectoryEntry.RefreshCache(); // This should refresh the cache and avoid the error - but it doesnt
    IADsPropertyList propList = (IADsPropertyList)localDirectoryEntry.NativeObject;
    IADsPropertyEntry propEntry = (IADsPropertyEntry)propList.GetPropertyItem("companydn",(int)ADSTYPEENUM.ADSTYPE_CASE_IGNORE_STRING);

Correct code:

...
    SearchResultCollection resultColl = dirSearcher.FindAll();
    DirectoryEntry localDirectoryEntry = resultColl[0].GetDirectoryEntry();
    localDirectoryEntry.RefreshCache(); // This should refresh the cache and avoid the error - but it doesnt
    IADsPropertyList propList = (IADsPropertyList)localDirectoryEntry.NativeObject;
    IADsPropertyEntry propEntry = (IADsPropertyEntry)propList.GetPropertyItem("companydn",(int)ADSTYPEENUM.ADSTYPE_DN_STRING);

My environment comprised of .NET 1.1 code using the ADSI COM library (ActiveDs.dll) accessing a GDS LDAP directory.

See Brendans blog for a better explanation here.

HTH

Tim

LDAP, AD, ADSI, DS, GDS

System.DirectoryServices.DirectorySearcher.Timeout and ServerTimeLimit not working for non AD LDAP directory (GDS)

ADSI error: The directory datatype cannot be converted to/from a native DS datatype. When retrieving DS property value.