X500DistinguishedName Class
Represents the distinguished name of an X509 certificate. This class cannot be inherited.
Assembly: System (in System.dll)
System.Security.Cryptography.AsnEncodedData
System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X500DistinguishedName
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() | X500DistinguishedName(AsnEncodedData) | Initializes a new instance of the X500DistinguishedName class using the specified AsnEncodedData object. |
![]() | X500DistinguishedName(Byte[]) | Initializes a new instance of the X500DistinguishedName class using information from the specified byte array. |
![]() | X500DistinguishedName(String) | Initializes a new instance of the X500DistinguishedName class using information from the specified string. |
![]() | X500DistinguishedName(String, X500DistinguishedNameFlags) | Initializes a new instance of the X500DistinguishedName class using the specified string and X500DistinguishedNameFlags flag. |
![]() | X500DistinguishedName(X500DistinguishedName) | Initializes a new instance of the X500DistinguishedName class using the specified X500DistinguishedName object. |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() | Name | Gets the comma-delimited distinguished name from an X500 certificate. |
![]() | Oid | Gets or sets the Oid value for an AsnEncodedData object.(Inherited from AsnEncodedData.) |
![]() | RawData | Gets or sets the Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1)-encoded data represented in a byte array.(Inherited from AsnEncodedData.) |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() | CopyFrom(AsnEncodedData) | Copies information from an AsnEncodedData object.(Inherited from AsnEncodedData.) |
![]() | Decode(X500DistinguishedNameFlags) | Decodes a distinguished name using the characteristics specified by the flag parameter. |
![]() | Equals(Object) | Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object.(Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | Format(Boolean) | Returns 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).) |
![]() | GetHashCode() | Serves as the default hash function. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | GetType() | |
![]() | ToString() | Returns a string that represents the current object.(Inherited from Object.) |
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.
using System; using System.Security.Cryptography; using System.Security.Permissions; using System.IO; using System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates; class X500Sample { static void Main() { try { X509Store store = new X509Store("MY", StoreLocation.CurrentUser); store.Open(OpenFlags.ReadOnly | OpenFlags.OpenExistingOnly); X509Certificate2Collection collection = (X509Certificate2Collection)store.Certificates; X509Certificate2Collection fcollection = (X509Certificate2Collection)collection.Find(X509FindType.FindByTimeValid, DateTime.Now, false); X509Certificate2Collection scollection = 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); foreach (X509Certificate2 x509 in scollection) { X500DistinguishedName dname = new X500DistinguishedName(x509.SubjectName); Console.WriteLine("X500DistinguishedName: {0}{1}", dname.Name, Environment.NewLine); x509.Reset(); } store.Close(); } catch (CryptographicException) { Console.WriteLine("Information could not be written out for this certificate."); } } }
Available since 2.0
Any public static ( Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

