Export and Import

Loom LDAP Browser supports exporting and importing directory entries in multiple formats. All formats are auto-detected from file extensions.

Export Formats

Supported Formats

Format	Extensions	Description
LDIF	`.ldif`, `.ldf`	RFC 2849 compliant LDAP Data Interchange Format
JSON	`.json`	Array of entry objects with DN and attributes
CSV	`.csv`	Comma-separated values with header row
Excel	`.xlsx`, `.xls`	Microsoft Excel spreadsheet format

Opening the Export Dialog

Open export dialog

Press F4 to open the export configuration dialog.

Configure export settings

Search filter — LDAP filter to select which entries to export (e.g., (objectClass=person))
Attributes — Comma-separated list of attributes, or * for all attributes
Format — Press F2 to cycle through LDIF, JSON, CSV, or XLSX
Filename — Output file path (format auto-detected from extension)

Execute export

Press Enter to start the export. The status bar shows the number of entries exported.

Export Format Examples

LDIF
JSON
CSV
Excel

LDIF (LDAP Data Interchange Format) is the standard format for LDAP data. It supports:

Multi-valued attributes
Base64 encoding for non-ASCII values
Line folding for long values

dn: cn=Alice Smith,ou=Users,dc=example,dc=com
cn: Alice Smith
sn: Smith
mail: [email protected]
objectClass: top
objectClass: inetOrgPerson

dn: cn=Bob Jones,ou=Users,dc=example,dc=com
cn: Bob Jones
sn: Jones
mail: [email protected]
objectClass: top
objectClass: inetOrgPerson

Values containing non-ASCII characters, leading spaces, or colons are automatically base64-encoded with the :: separator.

JSON format exports entries as an array of objects. Each entry contains:

dn — Distinguished name string
attributes — Object mapping attribute names to arrays of values

[
  {
    "dn": "cn=Alice Smith,ou=Users,dc=example,dc=com",
    "attributes": {
      "cn": ["Alice Smith"],
      "sn": ["Smith"],
      "mail": ["[email protected]"],
      "objectClass": ["top", "inetOrgPerson"]
    }
  },
  {
    "dn": "cn=Bob Jones,ou=Users,dc=example,dc=com",
    "attributes": {
      "cn": ["Bob Jones"],
      "sn": ["Jones"],
      "mail": ["[email protected]"],
      "objectClass": ["top", "inetOrgPerson"]
    }
  }
]

All attribute values are represented as arrays, even single-valued attributes, for consistency.

CSV format creates a spreadsheet-compatible file with:

First column: dn (Distinguished Name)
Subsequent columns: All unique attributes across all entries
Multi-valued attributes joined with ; separator

dn,cn,sn,mail,objectClass
"cn=Alice Smith,ou=Users,dc=example,dc=com",Alice Smith,Smith,[email protected],top; inetOrgPerson
"cn=Bob Jones,ou=Users,dc=example,dc=com",Bob Jones,Jones,[email protected],top; inetOrgPerson

If you specify explicit attributes (not *), only those attributes appear in the order you specified.

Excel format (.xlsx) creates a workbook with:

Sheet name: “LDAP Entries”
Header row with bold formatting
DN column with 50-character width
Multi-valued attributes joined with ; separator

The format is identical to CSV but provides native Excel compatibility with formatting and proper column widths.

Excel files can be opened directly in Microsoft Excel, LibreOffice Calc, or Google Sheets.

Attribute Selection

Control which attributes are exported and their order:

* (asterisk) — Export all attributes in alphabetical order
Explicit list — Export only specified attributes in the given order
Attributes not present in an entry are empty in CSV/Excel, omitted in LDIF/JSON

Import Formats

Import entries from files in any supported format. The format is auto-detected from the file extension.

Supported import formats

LDIF (.ldif, .ldf) — RFC 2849 compliant, supports base64 encoding and line folding
JSON (.json) — Array of entry objects matching the export schema
CSV (.csv) — Header row with dn column plus attribute columns
Excel (.xlsx, .xls) — Spreadsheet with header row

Import from profiles layout

Switch to the profiles layout (F1) and use the import function to load entries from a file.

LDIF Import Features

Line folding — Handles continuation lines starting with a single space
Base64 decoding — Automatically decodes :: base64-encoded values
Comments — Skips lines starting with #
Version directive — Ignores version: line
Multi-valued attributes — Multiple attribute lines with the same name

JSON Import Schema

JSON files must contain an array of objects with this structure:

[
  {
    "dn": "cn=Entry Name,dc=example,dc=com",
    "attributes": {
      "attributeName": ["value1", "value2"]
    }
  }
]

All attribute values must be arrays, even for single-valued attributes.

CSV/Excel Import Format

First row — Header with column names
First column — Must be named dn (case-insensitive)
Other columns — Attribute names
Multi-valued attributes — Values separated by ; (semicolon + space)

Example CSV structure:

dn,cn,sn,mail
"cn=Alice,dc=example,dc=com",Alice,Smith,[email protected]
"cn=Bob,dc=example,dc=com",Bob,Jones,[email protected]

Best Practices

Format Selection Guide

LDIF — Best for LDAP tools, server imports, and preserving exact data types
JSON — Best for programmatic processing and web applications
CSV — Best for spreadsheet analysis and simple data extraction
Excel — Best for sharing with non-technical users and formatted reports

When exporting sensitive data, ensure file permissions are properly restricted. Exported files may contain password hashes and other confidential information.

Keybindings

Key	Action
`F4`	Open export dialog
`F2`	Cycle export format (in export dialog)
`Tab` / `Shift+Tab`	Navigate fields
`Enter`	Execute export
`Esc`	Cancel and close dialog

Get Started

User Guide

Features

Export Formats

Supported Formats

Opening the Export Dialog

Export Format Examples

Attribute Selection

Import Formats

LDIF Import Features

JSON Import Schema

CSV/Excel Import Format

Best Practices

Keybindings

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

User Guide

Features

​Export Formats

​Supported Formats

​Opening the Export Dialog

​Export Format Examples

​Attribute Selection

​Import Formats

​LDIF Import Features

​JSON Import Schema

​CSV/Excel Import Format

​Best Practices

​Keybindings

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Export Formats

Supported Formats

Opening the Export Dialog

Export Format Examples

Attribute Selection

Import Formats

LDIF Import Features

JSON Import Schema

CSV/Excel Import Format

Best Practices

Keybindings