RFC 1485 (rfc1485) - Page 2 of 7

A String Representation of Distinguished Names (OSI-DS 23 (v5))

RFC 1485                  Distinguished Names                  July 1993


   message.  There is a need for a format to support human to human
   communication, which must be string based (not ASN.1) and user
   oriented.  This notation is targeted towards a general user oriented
   system, and in particular to represent the names of humans.  Other
   syntaxes may be more appropriate for other uses of the directory.
   For example, the OSF Syntax may be more appropriate for some system
   oriented uses.  (The OSF Syntax uses "/" as a separator, and forms
   names in a manner intended to resemble UNIX filenames).

2.  A notation for Distinguished Name

2.1 Goals

   The following goals are laid out:

      o  To provide an unambiguous representation of a distinguished
         name

      o  To be an intuitive format for the majority of names

      o  To be fully general, and able to represent any distinguished
         name

      o  To be amenable to a number of different layouts to achieve an
          attractive representation.

      o  To give a clear representation of the contents of the
          distinguished name

2.2 Informal definition

   This notation is designed to be convenient for common forms of name.
   Some examples are given.  The author's directory distinguished name
   would be written:

      CN=Steve Hardcastle-Kille, OU=Computer Science, O=University
      College London, C=GB

   This may be folded, perhaps to display in multi-column format.  For
   example:

      CN=Steve Hardcastle-Kille,
      OU=Computer Science,
      O=University College London,
      C=GB






Hardcastle-Kille