RFC 1218 (rfc1218) - Page 3 of 23

Naming scheme for c=US

RFC 1218                A Naming Scheme for c=US              April 1991


   (1)  user-friendly naming: a property of a Directory which
        allows users to easily identity objects;

   (2)  user-friendly name: a technique for naming an object
        which exhibits "friendliness" according to an arbitrary
        set of user-criteria; and,

   (3)  Distinguished Name: the administratively assigned name
        for an entry in the OSI Directory.

   It must be emphasized that Distinguished Names are not necessarily
   user-friendly names, and further, that user-friendly naming in the
   Directory is a property of the Directory Service, not of
   Distinguished Names.

2.2.  Choice of RDN Names

   The key aspect to appreciate for choice of RDNs is that they should
   provide a large name space to avoid collisions: the naming strategy
   must provide enough "real estate" to accommodate a large demand for
   entries.  This is the primary requirement for RDNs.  A secondary
   requirement is that RDNs should be meaningful (friendly to people)
   and should not impede searching.

   However, it is important to understand that this second requirement
   can be achieved by using additional (non-distinguished) attribute
   values.  For example, if the RDN of an entry is

                organizationName is Performance Systems International

   then it is perfectly acceptable (and indeed desirable) to have other
   values for the organizationName attribute, e.g.,

                organizationName is PSI

   The use of these abbreviated names greatly aids searching whilst
   avoiding unnecessary Distinguished Name conflicts.

   In order to appreciate the naming scheme which follows, it is
   important to understand that it leverages, wherever possible,
   existing naming infrastructure.  That is, it relies heavily on non-
   OSI naming authorities which already exist.  Note that inasmuch as it
   relies on existing naming authorities, there is little chance that
   any "final" national decision could obsolete it.  [Footnote: Any
   naming scheme may be subject to the jurisdiction of certain national
   agencies.  For example, the US State Department is concerned with any
   impact on US telecommunications treaty obligations.] (To do so would
   require a national decision that disregards existing national and



NADF