(
Lightweight
Directory
Access
Protocol) A protocol used to access a directory listing in a TCP/IP network. LDAP is used to query network directories, email servers and other information repositories. It is a sibling protocol to HTTP and FTP and uses the ldap:// prefix in its URL.
LDAP is a simpler version of the DAP protocol, which is used to gain access to X.500 directories. Although X.500 and DAP are more comprehensive than LDAP and offer more features, it is easier to code a query in LDAP. See
X.500,
DSML and
ADSI.