approx index in openldap 2.0

[Bob Wilkinson <bob@aldigital.co.uk>]

Hello

     I've just started using openldap recently. I was asked to
improve the search capabilities of an existing application. I read
the documentation and it looked as though using the approx index on
appropriate fields would solve my problem.

     I'm running Debian unstable, and the packaged version of slapd.

     I added an approximate index to my configuration file and got
the message:

Starting ldap server(s): slapd/etc/ldap/slapd.conf: line 57: approx
index of attribute "cn" disallowed

     So, I thought that maybe my package was compiled without
--enable-phonetic, so I downloaded the source code, and re-compiled
(after configuring with --enable-phonetic). This gave me the
same error.

     I searched through the archives of this list and found the
following comments.

"2.0 doesn't support approximate matching except through
equality matching."

from
http://www.openldap.org/cgi-bin/wilma_hiliter/openldap-software/200106/msg00017.html?line=31#hilite

"It's a documentation error.  2.0 does not support approximate
matching for any syntax.  The configure directive should
yield an error regardless of the attribute specified."

from
http://www.openldap.org/cgi-bin/wilma_hiliter/openldap-software/200106/msg00188.html?line=29#hilite

So, my questions are:

1. Is this feature (which I believe worked in the 1.0 series) likely
to be re-incorporated into openldap version 2.0 any time soon? How 
much work would this involve?

2. Could someone explain "2.0 doesn't support approximate matching
except through equality matching."? Does it mean that the only
approximation is binary (i.e. either it is/is not equal), which I
think is the limiting case of approximation. Or am I interpreting
this too literally?

Bob

P.S. Can I add my name to the list of those who would like the
documentation to be changed in regard to this non-functional option.