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X509Certificate2Collection.Find Method

Searches an X509Certificate2Collection object using the search criteria specified by the X509FindType enumeration and the findValue object.

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

'Declaration
Public Function Find ( _
	findType As X509FindType, _
	findValue As Object, _
	validOnly As Boolean _
) As X509Certificate2Collection
'Usage
Dim instance As X509Certificate2Collection 
Dim findType As X509FindType 
Dim findValue As Object 
Dim validOnly As Boolean 
Dim returnValue As X509Certificate2Collection 

returnValue = instance.Find(findType, _
	findValue, validOnly)

Parameters

findType
Type: System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509FindType

One of the X509FindType values.

findValue
Type: System.Object

The search criteria as an object.

validOnly
Type: System.Boolean

true to allow only valid certificates to be returned from the search; otherwise, false.

ExceptionCondition
CryptographicException

findType is invalid.

Use this method to find X509Certificate2 objects if no user interaction is needed. Use the Find method to allow the user to select X509Certificate2 objects.

Note that this method can be used in a cascading or nested style, narrowing the search criteria with each call to the method.

The following code example opens the current user's personal certificate store, finds only valid certificates, allows the user to select a certificate, and then writes certificate and certificate chain information to the console. The output depends on the certificate the user selects.

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



Class CertSelect

    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)
            Console.WriteLine("Number of certificates: {0}{1}", scollection.Count, Environment.NewLine)
            Dim x509 As X509Certificate2
            For Each x509 In scollection
                Dim rawdata As Byte() = x509.RawData
                Console.WriteLine("Content Type: {0}{1}", X509Certificate2.GetCertContentType(rawdata), Environment.NewLine)
                Console.WriteLine("Friendly Name: {0}{1}", x509.FriendlyName, Environment.NewLine)
                Console.WriteLine("Certificate Verified?: {0}{1}", x509.Verify(), Environment.NewLine)
                Console.WriteLine("Simple Name: {0}{1}", x509.GetNameInfo(X509NameType.SimpleName, True), Environment.NewLine)
                Console.WriteLine("Signature Algorithm: {0}{1}", x509.SignatureAlgorithm.FriendlyName, Environment.NewLine)
                Console.WriteLine("Private Key: {0}{1}", x509.PrivateKey.ToXmlString(False), Environment.NewLine)
                Console.WriteLine("Public Key: {0}{1}", x509.PublicKey.Key.ToXmlString(False), Environment.NewLine)
                Console.WriteLine("Certificate Archived?: {0}{1}", x509.Archived, Environment.NewLine)
                Console.WriteLine("Length of Raw Data: {0}{1}", x509.RawData.Length, Environment.NewLine)
                X509Certificate2UI.DisplayCertificate(x509)
                x509.Reset()
            Next x509
            store.Close()
        Catch cExcept As CryptographicException
            Console.WriteLine("Information could not be written out for this certificate.")
        End Try 

    End Sub 
End Class

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC

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

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 3.5
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