diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a323762..993ac60 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+.rspec
 spec/ldap.yml
 .rvmrc
 *.gemspec
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f284314
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+source "http://rubygems.org"
+
+gem 'hoe'
+gem 'hoe-git'
+
+group :development do
+  gem 'metaid'
+  gem 'rspec', '~> 2.0'
+  gem 'flexmock'
+end
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..96a7b25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+GEM
+  remote: http://rubygems.org/
+  specs:
+    diff-lcs (1.1.2)
+    flexmock (0.8.11)
+    hoe (2.8.0)
+      rake (>= 0.8.7)
+    hoe-git (1.3.0)
+      hoe (>= 2.2.0)
+    metaid (1.0)
+    rake (0.8.7)
+    rspec (2.3.0)
+      rspec-core (~> 2.3.0)
+      rspec-expectations (~> 2.3.0)
+      rspec-mocks (~> 2.3.0)
+    rspec-core (2.3.1)
+    rspec-expectations (2.3.0)
+      diff-lcs (~> 1.1.2)
+    rspec-mocks (2.3.0)
+
+PLATFORMS
+  ruby
+
+DEPENDENCIES
+  flexmock
+  hoe
+  hoe-git
+  metaid
+  rspec (~> 2.0)
diff --git a/lib/net/ldap/filter.rb b/lib/net/ldap/filter.rb
index 8eec9f0..4e8aec8 100644
--- a/lib/net/ldap/filter.rb
+++ b/lib/net/ldap/filter.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# Encoding: UTF-8
 # Copyright (C) 2006 by Francis Cianfrocca and other contributors. All
 # Rights Reserved.
 #
@@ -79,6 +80,8 @@ class Net::LDAP::Filter
     # <tt>mail</tt> value containing the substring "anderson":
     #
     #   f = Net::LDAP::Filter.eq("mail", "*anderson*")
+    #
+    # This filter does not perform any escaping
     def eq(attribute, value)
       new(:eq, attribute, value)
     end
@@ -136,10 +139,44 @@ class Net::LDAP::Filter
     # Creates a Filter object indicating that a particular attribute value
     # is either not present or does not match a particular string; see
     # Filter::eq for more information.
+    #
+    # This filter does not perform any escaping
     def ne(attribute, value)
       new(:ne, attribute, value)
     end
 
+    ##
+    # Creates a Filter object indicating that the value of a particular
+    # attribute must match a particular string. The attribute value is
+    # escaped, so the "*" character is interpreted literally.
+    def equals(attribute, value)
+      new(:eq, attribute, escape(value))
+    end
+
+    ##
+    # Creates a Filter object indicating that the value of a particular
+    # attribute must begin with a particular string. The attribute value is
+    # escaped, so the "*" character is interpreted literally.
+    def begins(attribute, value)
+      new(:eq, attribute, escape(value) + "*")
+    end
+
+    ##
+    # Creates a Filter object indicating that the value of a particular
+    # attribute must end with a particular string. The attribute value is
+    # escaped, so the "*" character is interpreted literally.
+    def ends(attribute, value)
+      new(:eq, attribute, "*" + escape(value))
+    end
+
+    ##
+    # Creates a Filter object indicating that the value of a particular
+    # attribute must contain a particular string. The attribute value is
+    # escaped, so the "*" character is interpreted literally.
+    def contains(attribute, value)
+      new(:eq, attribute, "*" + escape(value) + "*")
+    end
+
     ##
     # Creates a Filter object indicating that a particular attribute value
     # is greater than or equal to the specified value.
@@ -207,6 +244,30 @@ class Net::LDAP::Filter
     alias_method :present, :present?
     alias_method :pres, :present?
 
+    # http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4515 lists these exceptions from UTF1
+    # charset for filters. All of the following must be escaped in any normal
+    # string using a single backslash ('\') as escape. 
+    #
+    ESCAPES = {
+      '!' => '21', # EXCLAMATION    = %x21 ; exclamation mark ("!")
+      '&' => '26', # AMPERSAND      = %x26 ; ampersand (or AND symbol) ("&")
+      '*' => '2A', # ASTERISK       = %x2A ; asterisk ("*")
+      ':' => '3A', # COLON          = %x3A ; colon (":")
+      '|' => '7C', # VERTBAR        = %x7C ; vertical bar (or pipe) ("|")
+      '~' => '7E', # TILDE          = %x7E ; tilde ("~")
+    }
+    # Compiled character class regexp using the keys from the above hash. 
+    ESCAPE_RE = Regexp.new(
+      "[" + 
+      ESCAPES.keys.map { |e| Regexp.escape(e) }.join + 
+      "]")
+
+    ##
+    # Escape a string for use in an LDAP filter
+    def escape(string)
+      string.gsub(ESCAPE_RE) { |char| "\\" + ESCAPES[char] }
+    end
+
     ##
     # Converts an LDAP search filter in BER format to an Net::LDAP::Filter
     # object. The incoming BER object most likely came to us by parsing an
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index f6c63bc..5079537 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 require 'net/ldap'
-require 'rubygems'
 
-Spec::Runner.configure do |config|
+RSpec.configure do |config|
   config.mock_with :flexmock
 end
diff --git a/spec/unit/ber/ber_spec.rb b/spec/unit/ber/ber_spec.rb
index 9506122..33be2fd 100644
--- a/spec/unit/ber/ber_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/ber/ber_spec.rb
@@ -4,12 +4,13 @@ require 'net/ber'
 require 'net/ldap'
 
 describe "BER encoding of" do
-  def properly_encode_and_decode
-    simple_matcher('properly encode and decode') do |given|
+  
+  RSpec::Matchers.define :properly_encode_and_decode do 
+    match do |given|
       given.to_ber.read_ber.should == given
     end
   end
-  
+   
   context "arrays" do
     it "should properly encode/decode []" do
       [].should properly_encode_and_decode
diff --git a/spec/unit/ldap/filter_spec.rb b/spec/unit/ldap/filter_spec.rb
index fac0c28..623f032 100644
--- a/spec/unit/ldap/filter_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/ldap/filter_spec.rb
@@ -49,5 +49,35 @@ describe Net::LDAP::Filter do
       Net::LDAP::Filter.construct("uid=O'Keefe").to_rfc2254.should == "(uid=O'Keefe)"
     end 
   end
-  
+
+  describe "convenience filter constructors" do
+    def eq(attribute, value)
+      described_class.eq(attribute, value)
+    end
+    describe "<- .equals(attr, val)" do
+      it "should delegate to .eq with escaping" do
+        described_class.equals('dn', 'f*oo').should == eq('dn', 'f\2Aoo')
+      end 
+    end
+    describe "<- .begins(attr, val)" do
+      it "should delegate to .eq with escaping" do
+        described_class.begins('dn', 'f*oo').should == eq('dn', 'f\2Aoo*')
+      end 
+    end
+    describe "<- .ends(attr, val)" do
+      it "should delegate to .eq with escaping" do
+        described_class.ends('dn', 'f*oo').should == eq('dn', '*f\2Aoo')
+      end 
+    end
+    describe "<- .contains(attr, val)" do
+      it "should delegate to .eq with escaping" do
+        described_class.contains('dn', 'f*oo').should == eq('dn', '*f\2Aoo*')
+      end 
+    end
+  end
+  describe "<- .escape(str)" do
+    it "should escape !, &, *, :, | and ~" do
+      Net::LDAP::Filter.escape('!&*:|~').should == "\\21\\26\\2A\\3A\\7C\\7E"
+    end 
+  end
 end
\ No newline at end of file