PrintableString
A PrintableString is a restricted character string type in the ASN.1 notation. It is used to describe data that does only consist of a specific printable subset of the ASCII character set.
According to the ASN.1 Specification of basic notation[1], the character set of PrintableString can be expressed as:
| Name | Graphic |
|---|---|
| Latin capital letters | A,B, ... Z
|
| Latin small letters | a,b, ... z
|
| Numbers | 0,1, ... 9
|
| SPACE | (space) |
| APOSTROPHE | '
|
| LEFT PARENTHESIS | (
|
| RIGHT PARENTHESIS | )
|
| PLUS SIGN | +
|
| COMMA | ,
|
| HYPHEN-MINUS | -
|
| FULL STOP | .
|
| SOLIDUS | /
|
| COLON | :
|
| EQUALS SIGN | =
|
| QUESTION MARK | ?
|
The PrintableString definition does not include the at sign (@) or ampersand (&). This sometimes causes problems for naive implementers who attempt to put an SMTP email address into an X.509 digital certificate Distinguished Name.