Transforms

Attribute transforms

Transforms work on attribute basis

Attributes can be transformed from raw string or byte arrays to more comfortable objects. In addition, transform knows syntax of property it transforms, so it's not needed to specify binary property as binary, because transform "knows" - see sample for objectSid below

#For list of available transforms and attributes 
#that they can be applied on, run Get-LdapAttributeTransform -ListAvailable
Register-LdapAttributeTransform `
  -Name SecurityIdentifier `
  -AttributeName objectSid
$Ldap = Get-LdapConnection
#gets RootDSE object
$Dse = $Ldap | Get-RootDSE
#perform the search
#objectSid attribute on returned objects will not be byte array, 
#but System.Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier object
#no need to specify that objectSid is binary property - transform knows it
Find-LdapObject -LdapConnection $Ldap `
  -SearchFilter:"(&(cn=jsmith)(objectClass=user)(objectCategory=organizationalPerson))" `
  -SearchBase:"ou=Users,$($Dse.defaultNamingContext)" `
  -PropertiesToLoad:@("sAMAccountName","objectSid")

Many transforms registered at the same time

There can be many transforms registered at the same time, and single transform definition can work for many attributes. Transform author defines which atributes are supported by transform.
Many types of transforms available today, from simple string to integer conversion to parsing WindowsHello keys and AD replication metadata.

#Use all available transforms
Get-LdapAttributeTransform -ListAvailable | Register-LdapAttributeTransform
$Ldap = Get-LdapConnection
# gets RootDSE object
$Dse = $Ldap | Get-RootDSE
Find-LdapObject -LdapConnection $Ldap `
  -SearchFilter:"(&(objectClass=user)(objectCategory=organizationalPerson))" `
  -SearchBase:"ou=Users,$($Dse.defaultNamingContext)" `
  -PropertiesToLoad:@('*') -RangeSize -1

Transforms also support custom schema

Do you have custom schema unique for you use case, and want to use transforms? You can add new attribute to list of supported attributes of existing transform, once the transform is registered

# register guid transform
Register-LdapAttributeTransform -Name Guid
# register your own attribute.
# -Force flag allows adding the attribute even when not included in the list of supported attributes in transform definition
Register-LdapAttributeTransform -Name Guid -AttributeName myCustomGuidAttr -Force
$Ldap = Get-LdapConnection
#gets RootDSE object
$Dse = $Ldap | Get-RootDSE
Find-LdapObject -LdapConnection $Ldap `
  -SearchFilter:"(&(objectClass=user)(objectCategory=organizationalPerson))" `
  -SearchBase:"ou=Users,$($Dse.defaultNamingContext)" `
  -PropertiesToLoad:@('myCustomGuidAttr') -RangeSize -1