---
title: Choosing a datastore for Attribute Query
description: On the Data Store tab, choose a datastore instance for PingFederate to look up attributes.
component: pingfederate
version: 13.1
page_id: pingfederate:administrators_reference_guide:pf_choosing_datastore_attribute_query
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingfederate/13.1/administrators_reference_guide/pf_choosing_datastore_attribute_query.html
llms_txt: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingfederate/llms.txt
docs_for_agents: https://developer.pingidentity.com/build-with-ai/docs-for-agents.md
revdate: July 10, 2024
section_ids:
  before-you-begin: Before you begin
  about-this-task: About this task
  steps: Steps
---

# Choosing a datastore for Attribute Query

On the **Data Store** tab, choose a datastore instance for PingFederate to look up attributes.

## Before you begin

For prerequisites and previous steps to configure the Attribute Query profile, see [Configuring the Attribute Query profile in an SP connection](help_spconnectionconfigtasklet_attributerequesterstate.html).

## About this task

The process of configuring PingFederate to look up attributes in a datastore for attribute-query responses is similar to that used for single sign-on (SSO) Attribute Sources and User Lookup.

## Steps

1. Enter a **Description** for the datastore in the text box.

   1. If prompted, enter an**ID** in the text box.

2. Select a datastore instance from the **Active Data Store** list.

   |   |                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
   | - | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
   |   | If the datastore you want is not shown in the **Active Data Store** list, click **Manage Data Stores** to review or add a datastore instance. For more information, see [Managing datastores](pf_managing_datastores.html). |

3. Depending on the datastore type, the rest of the setup varies as follows.

   | Data store type | Required tasks                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
   | --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
   | JDBC            | * [Specifying database tables and columns](pf_specifying_database_tables_columns.html)

   * [Entering a database search filter](pf_entering_database_search_filter.html)                                                                                                                         |
   | LDAP            | - [Specifying directory properties and attributes](pf_specify_directory_properties_and_attributes.html)

   - [Defining encoding for binary attributes](pf_defining_encoding_binary_attributes.html) (optional)

   - [Entering a directory search filter](pf_entering_directory_search_filter.html) |
   | Other           | * [Specifying data source filters and fields](pf_specifying_data_source_filters_fields.html)                                                                                                                                                                                                   |

   |   |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
   | - | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
   |   | When attribute queries are sent using X.509 Attribute Sharing Profile (XASP), use the variable `${SubjectDN}`—rather than `${SAML_SUBJECT}`—to retrieve the subject identifier.You can also use any of these distinguished name (DN)-parsing variables:- `CN`

   - `OU`

   - `O`

   - `L`

   - `S`

   - `C`

   - `DC`If more than one value exists for any of the parsing variables, then they are enumerated. For example, if the Subject DN is `cn=John Smith,ou=service,ou=employee`, then you could use any of these elements in your filter qualifier:- `{SubjectDN}=cn=John Smith,ou=service,ou=employee`

   - `ou=service`

   - `ou1=employee`For more information about XASP, see [Attribute Query and XASP](../introduction_to_pingfederate/pf_attrib_query_xasp.html). |

4. When you have finished configuring your datastore, click **Next** to save changes.