LdapRecord v4.0.0 Release Notes

We're excited to announce the release of LdapRecord v4.0.0! This major version introduces significant improvements to the query filter system, clearer SSL/TLS configuration naming, and better separation of concerns between the query and model builders.

Key Features and Changes

Clearer SSL/TLS Configuration

The SSL and TLS configuration options have been renamed to more accurately reflect their purpose:

• use_ssl is now use_tls - Uses the ldaps:// protocol (port 636)
• use_tls is now use_starttls - Uses the ldap:// protocol with STARTTLS upgrade (port 389)

The previous naming was confusing because use_ssl actually enabled TLS via the ldaps:// protocol, while use_tls enabled STARTTLS. The new names make this distinction clear.

New Filter Object System

The query filter system has been completely rewritten to use dedicated filter objects instead of arrays and a grammar class. This provides a more intuitive and type-safe way to work with LDAP filters.

New Filter Classes:

All condition filters implement the ConditionFilter interface, and all group filters implement the GroupFilter interface, making it easy to work with parsed filters programmatically.

Closure Support in Where Clauses

The where and orWhere methods now accept closures as the first argument for nested queries, providing a more intuitive way to build complex filters:

User::query()->where(function ($query) {
    $query->where('cn', '=', 'John')
          ->orWhere('cn', '=', 'Jane');
})->get();

Model Builder and Query Builder Separation

The Model\Builder class no longer extends Query\Builder. Instead, it uses composition, delegating query operations to an underlying Query\Builder instance. This provides:

• Better separation of concerns
• Clearer APIs for each builder type
• More predictable behavior when extending builders

You can access the underlying query builder using getQuery() or toBase() methods.

Standardized Parameter Names

Parameter names have been standardized throughout the codebase to better align with LDAP terminology:

• $fields is now $attributes
• $columns is now $selects

Improved Filter Parser

The filter parser now returns typed filter objects instead of generic node classes:

use LdapRecord\Query\Filter\Parser;

$filters = Parser::parse('(&(cn=Steve)(sn=Bauman))');

$group = $filters[0]; // AndGroup instance
$group->getOperator(); // "&"
$group->getFilters(); // [Equals, Equals]

Upgrading

For detailed upgrade instructions, please see the upgrade guide.