X509_NAME_ENTRY_GET_OBJECT(3ossl)

💅 X509_NAME_ENTRY_GET_OBJECT — the 3ossl girlies' guide to X509_NAME_ENTRY

okay so bestie, you found the 3ossl page for the X509_NAME_ENTRY utility functions and honestly? it's a little family of getters, setters and creators for one single name/value pair inside an X509 name. think of an X509_NAME_ENTRY as one line on a form — the field name (an ASN1_OBJECT) and the field value (an ASN1_STRING) — and these functions are your little hands to grab the pen 🖊️✨

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <openssl/x509.h>

ASN1_OBJECT *X509_NAME_ENTRY_get_object(const X509_NAME_ENTRY *ne);
ASN1_STRING *X509_NAME_ENTRY_get_data(const X509_NAME_ENTRY *ne);

int X509_NAME_ENTRY_set_object(X509_NAME_ENTRY *ne, const ASN1_OBJECT *obj);
int X509_NAME_ENTRY_set_data(X509_NAME_ENTRY *ne, int type,
                             const unsigned char *bytes, int len);

X509_NAME_ENTRY *X509_NAME_ENTRY_create_by_txt(X509_NAME_ENTRY **ne, const char *field,
                                               int type, const unsigned char *bytes,
                                               int len);
X509_NAME_ENTRY *X509_NAME_ENTRY_create_by_NID(X509_NAME_ENTRY **ne, int nid,
                                               int type, const unsigned char *bytes,
                                               int len);
X509_NAME_ENTRY *X509_NAME_ENTRY_create_by_OBJ(X509_NAME_ENTRY **ne,
                                               const ASN1_OBJECT *obj, int type,
                                               const unsigned char *bytes, int len);

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨ (what each one actually does)

• X509_NAME_ENTRY_get_object() — grabs the field name of ne and hands it back to you as an ASN1_OBJECT structure. the name tag, basically 🏷️
• X509_NAME_ENTRY_get_data() — grabs the field value of ne and returns it as an ASN1_STRING structure. the actual content, the main character of the entry 💖
• X509_NAME_ENTRY_set_object() — sets the field name of ne to obj. new name tag, who dis 🎀
• X509_NAME_ENTRY_set_data() — sets the field value of ne to string type type and value determined by bytes and len. you're literally writing the value in, no cap ✍️
• X509_NAME_ENTRY_create_by_txt(), X509_NAME_ENTRY_create_by_NID() and X509_NAME_ENTRY_create_by_OBJ() — create and return an X509_NAME_ENTRY structure. factory functions, they make the whole thing from scratch 🛠️✨

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🦋 NOTES 🦋 (the lore you need)

X509_NAME_ENTRY_get_object() and X509_NAME_ENTRY_get_data() are your besties for examining an X509_NAME_ENTRY — like, for example, one that came back from X509_NAME_get_entry(). peek at the field name, peek at the value, done 👀

X509_NAME_ENTRY_create_by_txt(), X509_NAME_ENTRY_create_by_OBJ(), X509_NAME_ENTRY_create_by_NID() and X509_NAME_ENTRY_set_data() are seldom used in practice — and there's a reason for that: X509_NAME_ENTRY structures are almost always part of X509_NAME structures, and the matching X509_NAME functions are typically used to create and add new entries in a single operation. so it's giving "I could do it in two steps but why would I" 💅

The arguments of these functions support similar options to the similarly named ones of the corresponding X509_NAME functions, such as X509_NAME_add_entry_by_txt(). So for example type can be set to MBSTRING_ASC — but heads up, in the case of X509_set_data() the field name must be set first so the relevant field information can be looked up internally. order matters, bestie, don't skip steps 🫶

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👑 RETURN VALUES 👑

• X509_NAME_ENTRY_get_object() — returns a valid ASN1_OBJECT structure if it is set, or NULL if an error occurred 😭
• X509_NAME_ENTRY_get_data() — returns a valid ASN1_STRING structure if it is set, or NULL if an error occurred 😭
• X509_NAME_ENTRY_set_object() and X509_NAME_ENTRY_set_data() — return 1 on success or 0 on error 🎯
• X509_NAME_ENTRY_create_by_txt(), X509_NAME_ENTRY_create_by_NID() and X509_NAME_ENTRY_create_by_OBJ() — return a valid X509_NAME_ENTRY on success or NULL if an error occurred 😭

lowkey the pattern is: pointer-returning ones give you NULL on error, int-returning ones give you 0. check your returns fr fr 🔥

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• ERR_get_error(3)
• d2i_X509_NAME(3)
• OBJ_nid2obj(3)

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💜 COPYRIGHT 💜

Copyright 2002-2018 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.

Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at <https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.

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go off, icon — this was 3.5.0, dated 2026-09-25, straight from the X509_NAME_ENTRY_GET_OBJECT(3ossl) page. slay, read the docs, stay hydrated 🍓🧚💅