Index: ldap/pom.xml
===================================================================
--- ldap/pom.xml	(revision 389684)
+++ ldap/pom.xml	(working copy)
@@ -83,6 +83,12 @@
     </dependency>
 
     <dependency>
+      <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
+      <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
+      <version>1.2</version>
+    </dependency>
+
+    <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.directory.shared</groupId>
       <artifactId>shared-asn1</artifactId>
       <version>${pom.version}</version>
Index: ldap/src/main/java/org/apache/directory/shared/ldap/ldif/LdifParserImpl.java
===================================================================
--- ldap/src/main/java/org/apache/directory/shared/ldap/ldif/LdifParserImpl.java	(revision 389684)
+++ ldap/src/main/java/org/apache/directory/shared/ldap/ldif/LdifParserImpl.java	(working copy)
@@ -18,9 +18,11 @@
 package org.apache.directory.shared.ldap.ldif;
 
 
-import java.io.IOException;
-import java.io.StringReader;
-import java.io.BufferedReader;
+import java.io.*;
+import java.net.URL;
+import java.net.MalformedURLException;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+import java.util.regex.Matcher;
 
 import javax.naming.NamingException;
 import javax.naming.directory.Attributes;
@@ -30,6 +32,7 @@
 import org.apache.directory.shared.ldap.exception.LdapNamingException;
 import org.apache.directory.shared.ldap.message.ResultCodeEnum;
 import org.apache.directory.shared.ldap.util.Base64;
+import org.apache.commons.io.IOUtils;
 
 
 /**
@@ -47,6 +50,9 @@
  */
 public class LdifParserImpl implements LdifParser
 {
+    public static final Pattern STRING_ENCODE_PATTERN
+            = Pattern.compile("(string_encoding=([^;]+);\\s*)?(.+)");
+
     /**
      * Decodes an encoded string in base64 into a byte array.
      * 
@@ -75,6 +81,7 @@
      */
     public synchronized void parse( Attributes attributes, String ldif ) throws NamingException
     {
+        boolean isImportFile = false;
         boolean isBase64Encoded = false;
         int lineCount = 0;
         int index;
@@ -122,22 +129,24 @@
                     continue;
                 }
 
-                // Consume next char and check if it's a colon for binary attr.
-                if ( line.charAt( ++index ) == ':' )
-                {
+                // Consume next char and check if it's a colon for binary attr
+                //  or '<' for file inclusion
+                index++;
+                if ( line.charAt( index ) == ':' )
                     isBase64Encoded = true;
-                }
+                else if ( line.charAt( index ) == '<' )
+                    isImportFile = true;
 
                 // Advance index past whitespace to the first char of the value.
                 try
                 {
-                    while ( ( line.length() <= index + 1 ) && line.charAt( ++index ) == ' ' )
+                    while ( ( ++index < line.length() - 1 ) && line.charAt( index ) == ' ' )
                     {
                         ; // Does nothing!
                     }
 
                     // Capture attribute value from first char till end of line.
-                    attrValue = line.substring( index + 1 );
+                    attrValue = line.substring( index );
                 }
                 catch ( StringIndexOutOfBoundsException e )
                 {
@@ -165,6 +174,72 @@
                     }
                     isBase64Encoded = false;
                 }
+                else if ( isImportFile && ( attrValue != null ) )
+                {
+                    final URL               url;
+                    final Matcher           matcher;
+                    final String            stringEncoding;
+                    final String            urlStr;
+                    InputStream             is = null;
+                    StringWriter            sw = null;
+                    ByteArrayOutputStream   bos = null;
+                    final Object            value;
+
+                    matcher = STRING_ENCODE_PATTERN.matcher(attrValue);
+                    matcher.matches();
+                    stringEncoding = matcher.group(2);
+                    urlStr = matcher.group(3);
+
+                    try
+                    {
+                        url = new URL(urlStr);
+                        is = url.openStream();
+                        if (stringEncoding != null)
+                        {
+                            sw = new StringWriter(4 * 1024);
+                            IOUtils.copy(is, sw, stringEncoding);
+                            value = sw.toString();
+                        }
+                        else
+                        {
+                            bos = new ByteArrayOutputStream(4 * 1024);
+                            IOUtils.copy(is, bos);
+                            value = bos.toByteArray();
+                        }
+                    }
+                    catch (MalformedURLException e)
+                    {
+                        throw new LdapNamingException( "Line " + lineCount + " [" + line
+                        + "] passes malformed URL to ':<' inclusion.\n{" + ldif + "}",
+                        ResultCodeEnum.OTHER );
+                    }
+                    catch (IOException e)
+                    {
+                        throw new LdapNamingException( "Line " + lineCount + " [" + line
+                        + "] failed including URL passed to ':<' inclusion.\n{" + ldif + "}",
+                        ResultCodeEnum.OTHER );
+                    }
+                    finally
+                    {
+                        if (is != null)
+                            try { is.close(); } catch (IOException e) {}
+                        if (sw != null)
+                            try { sw.close(); } catch (IOException e) {}
+                        if (bos != null)
+                            try { bos.close(); } catch (IOException e) {}
+                    }
+
+                    if ( attributes.get( attrName ) == null )
+                    {
+                        attributes.put( attrName, value );
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        Attribute attribute = attributes.get( attrName );
+                        attribute.add( value );
+                    }
+                    isImportFile = false;
+                }
                 else
                 {
                     if ( attributes.get( attrName ) == null )
Index: ldap/src/test/resources/test_inclusion.ldif
===================================================================
--- ldap/src/test/resources/test_inclusion.ldif	(revision 0)
+++ ldap/src/test/resources/test_inclusion.ldif	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# attribute is stored as byte[]
+httpurl:< http://isis/public/hopno02/jx.txt
+# attribute is stored as byte[]
+fileurl:< file:///D:/src/ad/shared/ldap/src/test/resources/test_ldif_inclusion.txt
+# attribute is stored as UTF8 encoded String
+strfileurl:< string_encoding=UTF8;file:///D:/src/ad/shared/ldap/src/test/resources/test_ldif_inclusion.txt
Index: ldap/src/test/resources/test_ldif_inclusion.txt
===================================================================
--- ldap/src/test/resources/test_ldif_inclusion.txt	(revision 0)
+++ ldap/src/test/resources/test_ldif_inclusion.txt	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+<some included text>
+multiple
+lines
+</end some included text>
\ No newline at end of file