---
title: ref
description: This attribute holds labeledURI values referring to another LDAP server. The URI should be an LDAP URL. The URI should not specify scope, filter, or an attribute description list, and it should contain a non-empty DN.
component: pingds
version: 7.2
page_id: pingds:schemaref:at-ref
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingds/8.1/schemaref/at-ref.html
llms_txt: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingds/llms.txt
docs_for_agents: https://developer.pingidentity.com/build-with-ai/docs-for-agents.md
superseded_by: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingds/8.1/schemaref/at-ref.html
---

# ref

This attribute holds `labeledURI` values referring to another LDAP server. The URI should be an LDAP URL. The URI should not specify scope, filter, or an attribute description list, and it should contain a non-empty DN.

Example: `ldap://referral.example.com:1389/ou=Subscribers,dc=example,dc=com`

|                             |                                                                |
| --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| *Single value*              | false: multiple values allowed                                 |
| *Origin*                    | [RFC 3296](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3296)      |
| *Usage*                     | distributedOperation                                           |
| *Description*               | named reference - a labeledURI                                 |
| *Ordering matching rule*    | [caseIgnoreOrderingMatch](mr-caseIgnoreOrderingMatch.html)     |
| *OID*                       | 2.16.840.1.113730.3.1.34                                       |
| *User modification allowed* | true                                                           |
| *Schema file*               | 00-core.ldif                                                   |
| *Names*                     | ref                                                            |
| *Used by*                   | [referral](oc-referral.html)                                   |
| *Substring matching rule*   | [caseIgnoreSubstringsMatch](mr-caseIgnoreSubstringsMatch.html) |
| *Syntax*                    | [DirectoryString](s-DirectoryString.html)                      |
| *Equality matching rule*    | [caseExactMatch](mr-caseExactMatch.html)                       |