Names in the Directory tree have two name types: typeful and typeless. A typeful name includes the name type (OU, O, etc.) of each object in the Distinguished Name of an object. A typeless name excludes the name type for each object.
A name type distinguishes the specific object you are referring to, such as a User object or an Organizational Unit container object. For example, the following typeless name:
ESAYERS.DESIGN.LONDON.MFG.ACME.USis expressed with name types as:
CN=ESAYERS.OU=DESIGN.OU=LONDON.OU=MFG.O=ACME.C=USwhere CN is the common name of the leaf object, OU is the Organizational Unit name, O is the Organization name, and C is the Country.
In most cases, you do not need to use name types.
Any time you move from one container object to another, you change context. Whenever you change contexts, you might need to indicate the Distinguished Name of the object you are changing context to.
If you are referring to an object in the same container as your User object, you need only refer to the object by its common name.
Note that all Distinguished Names should be unique within a Directory tree. In addition, all object names should be unique within a container. The NDS database recognizes only one occurrence of the same name within each container.