Encoding::CompatibilityError in Observations when access active directory from rails - ruby-on-rails

Question

I have established a connection to Active Directory through ldap/net. I am trying to pull AD attributes and values.
If I use the following code (using values.inspect) the query works.
<% #temp_search.each do |user| %>
TS = <%= user.sn %> <br>
<% user.each do |attribute, values| %>
<%= attribute %> <br>
<% values.each do |value| %>
<%= value.inspect %><br>
<% end %>
<hr style="border-color: red">
<% end %>
<% end %>
The portion of my controller doing the ldap query is s
filter = Net::LDAP::Filter.eq( "sn", "mendla" )
treebase = "dc=ccttapes1,dc=com"
#temp_search = ldap.search( :base => treebase, :filter => filter )
p ldap.get_operation_result
What I can't seem to get to is to just get the value for one particular attribute - for example, givenname.
I see results such as
cn
"Chris G. Mendla"
sn
"Mendla"
description
"Test account 1 for rails apps - DO NOT CHANGE PW"
givenname
"Chris"
initials
"G"
distinguishedname
"CN=Chris G. Mendla,OU=Users CCT,DC=CCTTAPES1,DC=com"
However, if I change <%= value.inspect %><br> to <%= value.givenname %><br> I get an error of
NoMethodError in Observations#index
Showing C:/Users/cmendla/RubymineProjects/employee_observations/app/views/observations/index.html.erb where line #61 raised:
undefined method `givenname' for "CN=Christopher Mendla,OU=Users CCT,DC=CCTTAPES1,DC=com":Net::BER::BerIdentifiedString
Rails.root: C:/Users/cmendla/RubymineProjects/employee_observations
Application Trace | Framework Trace | Full Trace
app/views/observations/index.html.erb:61:in `block (3 levels) in _app_views_observations_index_html_erb__474218211_78240600'
app/views/observations/index.html.erb:60:in `each'
app/views/observations/index.html.erb:60:in `block (2 levels) in _app_views_observations_index_html_erb__474218211_78240600'
app/views/observations/index.html.erb:58:in `block in _app_views_observations_index_html_erb__474218211_78240600'
app/views/observations/index.html.erb:56:in `each'
app/views/observations/index.html.erb:56:in `_app_views_observations_index_html_erb__474218211_78240600'
and if I try ``<%= givenname.value %>` I get
NameError in Observations#index
Showing C:/Users/cmendla/RubymineProjects/employee_observations/app/views/observations/index.html.erb where line #61 raised:
undefined local variable or method `givenname' for #<#<Class:0x9cd0230>:0x9fadaf0>
Rails.root: C:/Users/cmendla/RubymineProjects/employee_observations
Application Trace | Framework Trace | Full Trace
app/views/observations/index.html.erb:61:in `block (3 levels) in _app_views_observations_index_html_erb__474218211_83715540'
app/views/observations/index.html.erb:60:in `each'
app/views/observations/index.html.erb:60:in `block (2 levels) in _app_views_observations_index_html_erb__474218211_83715540'
app/views/observations/index.html.erb:58:in `block in _app_views_observations_index_html_erb__474218211_83715540'
app/views/observations/index.html.erb:56:in `each'
app/views/observations/index.html.erb:56:in `_app_views_observations_index_html_erb__474218211_83715540'
Request
My goal is to be able to search for an AD record by first and last names and then pull values for attributes such as mail or memberof.
(I am using ldap-net

Answer 1

In your example #temp_search should be an array of users that meet your search criteria. Each one of those users is a Net::LDAP::Entry object. On those objects you can call methods are available corresponding to the users attributes.
If only one user is returned, the Net::LDAP::Entry object will still be inside an array. In that case you could call something like:
#temp_search.first.cn
You can also call:
#temp_search.first.attribute_names to see all available attributes for that object.
For example, you could do something like:
<% #temp_search.each do |user| %>
#call user attributes
user.cn
user.memberof
#etc, other attributes
<% end %>