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X500DistinguishedName Class

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

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

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

'Declaration
Public NotInheritable Class X500DistinguishedName _
	Inherits AsnEncodedData

The X500DistinguishedName type exposes the following members.

  NameDescription
Public methodX500DistinguishedName(AsnEncodedData)Initializes a new instance of the X500DistinguishedName class using the specified AsnEncodedData object.
Public methodX500DistinguishedName(Byte())Initializes a new instance of the X500DistinguishedName class using information from the specified byte array.
Public methodX500DistinguishedName(String)Initializes a new instance of the X500DistinguishedName class using information from the specified string.
Public methodX500DistinguishedName(X500DistinguishedName)Initializes a new instance of the X500DistinguishedName class using the specified X500DistinguishedName object.
Public methodX500DistinguishedName(String, X500DistinguishedNameFlags)Initializes a new instance of the X500DistinguishedName class using the specified string and X500DistinguishedNameFlags flag.
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  NameDescription
Public propertyNameGets the comma-delimited distinguished name from an X500 certificate.
Public propertyOidGets or sets the Oid value for an AsnEncodedData object. (Inherited from AsnEncodedData.)
Public propertyRawDataGets or sets the Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1)-encoded data represented in a byte array. (Inherited from AsnEncodedData.)
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  NameDescription
Public methodCopyFromCopies information from an AsnEncodedData object. (Inherited from AsnEncodedData.)
Public methodDecodeDecodes a distinguished name using the characteristics specified by the flag parameter.
Public methodEquals(Object)Determines whether the specified Object is equal to the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
Protected methodFinalizeAllows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.)
Public methodFormatReturns a formatted version of an X500 distinguished name for printing or for output to a text window or to a console. (Overrides AsnEncodedData.Format(Boolean).)
Public methodGetHashCodeServes as a hash function for a particular type. (Inherited from Object.)
Public methodGetTypeGets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
Protected methodMemberwiseCloneCreates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
Public methodToStringReturns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.)
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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


.NET Framework

Supported in: 4, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0

.NET Framework Client Profile

Supported in: 4, 3.5 SP1

Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2

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

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

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