---
title: Attribute syntax definition
description: Understand the PingDirectory attribute syntax definition format and why new syntaxes require server code extensions.
component: pingdirectory
version: 10.3
page_id: pingdirectory:pingdirectory_server_administration_guide:pd_ds_attr_syntax_def
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingdirectory/11.1/pingdirectory_server_administration_guide/pd_ds_attr_syntax_def.html
llms_txt: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingdirectory/llms.txt
docs_for_agents: https://developer.pingidentity.com/build-with-ai/docs-for-agents.md
revdate: 2023-09-13T00:00:00Z
superseded_by: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingdirectory/11.1/pingdirectory_server_administration_guide/pd_ds_attr_syntax_def.html
---

# Attribute syntax definition

New attribute syntaxes require additional code to be implemented on the PingDirectory server.

If you need new syntax definitions, contact Ping Identity support for assistance.

The following formal specification for attribute types is provided in [RFC 4512](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4512), section 4.1.5.

```
SyntaxDescription = "(" wsp
numericoid	              ; Object identifier
[ sp "DESC" sp qdstring ]     ; Description
extensions wsp ")"	      ; Extensions followed by a white space and ")"
```