python ldap: what happens when ldap.initialize() is given a bad uri?

[sbartz]

Greetings,

My ldap application relies on user input for a ldap server uri, so I am looking for a way to use the ldap api to determine whether the ldap server is up or not.
All the docs have to say is this:

initialize(uri)
Opens a new connection with an LDAP server, and return an LDAP object (see 1.1.4) used to perform operations on that server. Parameter uri has to be a valid LDAP URL.

server = "ldap://666.222.111.333"
try:
    l = ldap.initialize(server)
except ldap.LDAPError, errorMsg:
    print errorMsg
 

When I run this code, no exception is raised, but there is clearly no ldap server running at that invalid ip address. If I try doing a bind afterwards, I can get an exception to be raised, but I have had unpredictable results in the amount of time (even using result()) that this takes.

Is initialize actually trying to make a connection?
If so, how can I find out if the connection failed without doing a bind?

I'm running python 2.4.2 on SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop v. 10.