X500DistinguishedName Class

Note: This class is new in the .NET Framework version 2.0.

Represents the distinguished name of an X509 certificate. This class cannot be inherited.

Namespace: System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates
Assembly: System (in system.dll)

'Declaration
Public NotInheritable Class X500DistinguishedName
	Inherits AsnEncodedData
'Usage
Dim instance As X500DistinguishedName

public final class X500DistinguishedName extends AsnEncodedData
public final class X500DistinguishedName extends AsnEncodedData

This class is like an extension to the SubjectName or IssuerName property, which is the name of the person or entity that the certificate is being issued to. X.500 is an international standard for distributed directory services. The distinguished name uses the following format:

[X500:/C=CountryCode/O=Organization/OU=OrganizationUnit/CN=CommonName]

The following field length limits apply:

Field

Length Limit

CountryCode

2 characters

Organization

Up to 64 characters

OrganizationUnit

Up to 32 characters

CommonName

Up to 64 characters

The following guidelines apply:

  • Field values can be uppercase or lowercase.

  • Delimiters are slash marks (/) and must appear before the first value and between subsequent values.

  • Delimiters can be followed by a space.

The following is an example of a correctly formatted name: [X500:/ C=US/ O=Microsoft/ OU=WGA/ CN=TedSt]

The following code example shows how to use the X500DistinguishedName class.

Imports System
Imports System.Security.Cryptography
Imports System.Security.Permissions
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates



Class X500Sample
   Shared msg As String
   Shared Sub Main()
	
      Try
         Dim store As New X509Store("MY", StoreLocation.CurrentUser)
         store.Open((OpenFlags.ReadOnly Or OpenFlags.OpenExistingOnly))
         Dim collection As X509Certificate2Collection = CType(store.Certificates, X509Certificate2Collection)
         Dim fcollection As X509Certificate2Collection = CType(collection.Find(X509FindType.FindByTimeValid, DateTime.Now, False), X509Certificate2Collection)
         Dim scollection As X509Certificate2Collection = X509Certificate2UI.SelectFromCollection(fcollection, "Test Certificate Select", "Select a certificate from the following list to get information on that certificate", X509SelectionFlag.MultiSelection)
	 msg = "Number of certificates: " & scollection.Count & Environment.NewLine
	 MsgBox(msg)
         Dim x509 As X509Certificate2
         For Each x509 In  scollection
            Dim dname As New X500DistinguishedName(x509.SubjectName)
	    msg = "X500DistinguishedName: " & dname.Name & Environment.NewLine
	 MsgBox(msg)
            x509.Reset()
         Next x509
         store.Close()
	 Catch e As Exception
            msg = "Error: Information could not be written out for this certificate."
            MsgBox(msg)
      End Try
   End Sub 'Main 
End Class 'X500Sample

System.Object
   System.Security.Cryptography.AsnEncodedData
    System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X500DistinguishedName

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

Windows 98, Windows 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Starter Edition

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see System Requirements.

.NET Framework

Supported in: 2.0

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