IETF RFC 4517 PDF

Each attribute stored in a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory, whose values may be transferred in the LDAP protocol, has a defined syntax that constrains the structure and format of its values. The comparison semantics for values of a syntax are not part of the syntax definition but are instead provided through separately defined matching rules. Matching rules specify an argument, an assertion value, which also has a defined syntax. This document defines a base set of syntaxes and matching rules for use in defining attributes for LDAP directories.