LDAP Search: If filter contains nonexistant attribute, entry will not be returned as a "hit"

[Jeremiah Martell <inlovewithgod@gmail.com>]

Hello,

I'm using openLDAP and I'm attempting to search with a filter like the
following:

In English:
   Find all entries whose "objectClass" is "person", has an email
address, and one of the following attributes contains "jere": sn, cn,
blahblah.

In LDAP Filter language:
   (&(objectClass=person)(|(sn=*jere*)(cn=*jere*)(blahblah=*jere*))(mail=*))

My problem is that if a particular entry does not contain each
attribute (sn, cn, and blahblah) they will not get returned as a hit.
The attribute "blahblah" is obviously a nonexistent attribute, but
being inside an "OR" parenthesis group I would assume that wouldn't
matter.

I desire to search many entries in my LDAP for a particular "search
keyword", and I want to search a couple possible attributes for that
"search keyword". I would think if an entry's "sn" attribute contained
"jere" but it didn't have a "cn" or "blahblah" attribute, it would
still get returned as a "hit". This is not the case.

Is there a problem with my search filter? Is there another way to
accomplish what I'm wanting here? Any help would be appreciated.

  Thanks,

  - Jeremiah
 inlovewithGod@gmail.com