But it will fail if it's an 'and' and both parts match (which was my original case). This one fails: $LDAPSEARCH -H $URI2 -b "o=translucent" "(|(employeeType=foo)(carlicense=right))" preferredLanguage > $SEARCHOUT 2>&1

Sorry, I meant to write this in the last one: $LDAPSEARCH -H $URI2 -b "o=translucent" "(&(employeeType=consultant)(carlicense=right))" preferredLanguage > $SEARCHOUT 2>&1