def read(*parts):
    """
    Build an absolute path from *parts* and and return the contents of the
    resulting file.  Assume UTF-8 encoding.
    """
    with codecs.open(os.path.join(HERE, *parts), "rb", "utf-8") as f:
        return f.read()
def _match_less_than(search_base, attribute, value, candidates):
        matches = list()
        for entry in candidates:
            dn = entry.get("dn")
            if not dn.endswith(search_base):
                continue

            value_from_directory = entry.get("attributes").get(attribute)
            if str(value_from_directory) < str(value):
                entry["type"] = "searchResEntry"
                matches.append(entry)

        return matches