Index: common/src/test/org/apache/ldap/common/subtree/SubtreeSpecificationParserTest.java
===================================================================
--- common/src/test/org/apache/ldap/common/subtree/SubtreeSpecificationParserTest.java	(revision 264984)
+++ common/src/test/org/apache/ldap/common/subtree/SubtreeSpecificationParserTest.java	(working copy)
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@
 import org.apache.ldap.common.filter.BranchNode;
 import org.apache.ldap.common.filter.SimpleNode;
 import org.apache.ldap.common.name.LdapName;
+import org.apache.ldap.common.name.SimpleNameComponentNormalizer;
+import org.apache.ldap.common.schema.DeepTrimNormalizer;
 import org.apache.ldap.common.subtree.SubtreeSpecification;
 
 
@@ -104,6 +106,9 @@
     private static final String INVALID_SILLY_THING =
         "How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck would chuck wood?";
 
+    /** A valid specification only with base set and normalizing to be applied */
+    private static final String SPEC_WITH_BASE_NORMALIZING =
+        "{ base \"ou=system   \" }";
     
     /** the ss parser wrapper */
     SubtreeSpecificationParser parser;
@@ -405,7 +410,23 @@
         }
     }
     
+    /**
+     * Tests the parser with a valid specification with base set and normalizing active.
+     */
+    public void testSpecWithBaseNormalizing() throws Exception
+    {
+        // create a new normalizing parser for this test case 
+        SubtreeSpecificationParser parser = new SubtreeSpecificationParser(
+                                                new SimpleNameComponentNormalizer(
+                                                    new DeepTrimNormalizer()));
+        SubtreeSpecification ss = parser.parse( SPEC_WITH_BASE_NORMALIZING );
+        assertNotNull( ss );
+        
+        // looking for "ou=system" and not "ou=system   " due to normalizing
+        assertEquals( "ou=system" , ss.getBase().toString() );
+    }
     
+    
     /**
      * Tests the multithreaded use of a single parser.
      */
Index: common/src/antlr/subtree-specification.g
===================================================================
--- common/src/antlr/subtree-specification.g	(revision 264984)
+++ common/src/antlr/subtree-specification.g	(working copy)
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 import javax.naming.NamingException;
 
 import org.apache.ldap.common.name.DnParser;
+import org.apache.ldap.common.name.NameComponentNormalizer;
 import org.apache.ldap.common.filter.ExprNode;
 import org.apache.ldap.common.filter.LeafNode;
 import org.apache.ldap.common.filter.SimpleNode;
@@ -73,23 +74,35 @@
 
 {
     private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger( AntlrSubtreeSpecificationParser.class );
-    private final DnParser dnParser = createDnParser();
+    private DnParser dnParser;
     
+    private boolean isNormalizing = false;
+    NameComponentNormalizer normalizer;
+    
     private Set chopBeforeExclusions = new HashSet();
     private Set chopAfterExclusions = new HashSet();
 
     SubtreeSpecificationModifier ssModifier = null;
 
     /**
-     * Creates a subordinate DnParser for parsing LocalNames.
+     * Creates a (normalizing) subordinate DnParser for parsing LocalNames.
+     * This method MUST be called for each instance while we cannot do
+     * constructor overloading for this class.
      *
      * @return the DnParser to be used for parsing LocalNames
      */
-    private DnParser createDnParser()
+    public void init()
     {
         try
         {
-            return new DnParser();
+            if( isNormalizing )
+            {
+                dnParser = new DnParser( normalizer );
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                dnParser = new DnParser();
+            }
         }
         catch ( NamingException e )
         {
@@ -101,6 +114,15 @@
             throw new NullPointerException( "dnParser is null: " + msg );
         }
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets the NameComponentNormalizer for this parser's dnParser.
+     */
+    public void setNormalizer(NameComponentNormalizer normalizer)
+    {
+        this.normalizer = normalizer;
+        this.isNormalizing = true;
+    }
 }
 
 
Index: common/src/java/org/apache/ldap/common/subtree/SubtreeSpecificationParser.java
===================================================================
--- common/src/java/org/apache/ldap/common/subtree/SubtreeSpecificationParser.java	(revision 264984)
+++ common/src/java/org/apache/ldap/common/subtree/SubtreeSpecificationParser.java	(working copy)
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@
 import java.io.StringReader;
 import java.text.ParseException;
 
+import org.apache.ldap.common.name.NameComponentNormalizer;
+
 import antlr.RecognitionException;
 import antlr.TokenStreamException;
 
@@ -42,6 +44,7 @@
     /** the antlr generated lexer being wrapped */
     private ReusableAntlrSubtreeSpecificationLexer lexer;
 
+    private final boolean isNormalizing;
 
     /**
      * Creates a subtree specification parser.
@@ -51,7 +54,25 @@
         StringReader in = new StringReader(""); // place holder for the first input
         this.lexer = new ReusableAntlrSubtreeSpecificationLexer( in );
         this.parser = new ReusableAntlrSubtreeSpecificationParser( lexer );
+        this.parser.init(); // this method MUST be called while we cannot do
+                            // constructor overloading for antlr generated parser
+        this.isNormalizing = false;
     }
+    
+    /**
+     * Creates a normalizing subtree specification parser.
+     */
+    public SubtreeSpecificationParser(NameComponentNormalizer normalizer)
+    {
+        StringReader in = new StringReader(""); // place holder for the first input
+        this.lexer = new ReusableAntlrSubtreeSpecificationLexer( in );
+        this.parser = new ReusableAntlrSubtreeSpecificationParser( lexer );
+        
+        this.parser.setNormalizer( normalizer );
+        this.parser.init(); // this method MUST be called while we cannot do
+                            // constructor overloading for antlr generated parser
+        this.isNormalizing = true;
+    }
 
 
     /**
@@ -106,4 +127,14 @@
 
         return ss;
     }
+    
+    /**
+     * Tests to see if this parser is normalizing.
+     *
+     * @return true if it normalizes false otherwise
+     */
+    public boolean isNormizing()
+    {
+        return this.isNormalizing ;
+    }
 }