X509BasicConstraintsExtension.CertificateAuthority Property    
Definition
Important
Some information relates to prerelease product that may be substantially modified before it’s released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.
Gets a value indicating whether a certificate is a certificate authority (CA) certificate.
public:
 property bool CertificateAuthority { bool get(); };public bool CertificateAuthority { get; }member this.CertificateAuthority : boolPublic ReadOnly Property CertificateAuthority As BooleanProperty Value
true if the certificate is a certificate authority (CA) certificate, otherwise, false.
Examples
The following code example demonstrates how to open a user's personal certificate store and display information about each certificate in the store. This example uses the X509BasicConstraintsExtension class to display the information.
using System;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates;
public class CertSelect
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        try
        {
            X509Store store = new X509Store("MY", StoreLocation.CurrentUser);
            store.Open(OpenFlags.ReadOnly | OpenFlags.OpenExistingOnly);
            X509Certificate2Collection collection = (X509Certificate2Collection)store.Certificates;
            for (int i = 0; i < collection.Count; i++)
            {
                foreach (X509Extension extension in collection[i].Extensions)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(extension.Oid.FriendlyName + "(" + extension.Oid.Value + ")");
                    if (extension.Oid.FriendlyName == "Key Usage")
                    {
                        X509KeyUsageExtension ext = (X509KeyUsageExtension)extension;
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.KeyUsages);
                    }
                    if (extension.Oid.FriendlyName == "Basic Constraints")
                    {
                        X509BasicConstraintsExtension ext = (X509BasicConstraintsExtension)extension;
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.CertificateAuthority);
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.HasPathLengthConstraint);
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.PathLengthConstraint);
                    }
                    if (extension.Oid.FriendlyName == "Subject Key Identifier")
                    {
                        X509SubjectKeyIdentifierExtension ext = (X509SubjectKeyIdentifierExtension)extension;
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.SubjectKeyIdentifier);
                    }
                    if (extension.Oid.FriendlyName == "Enhanced Key Usage")
                    {
                        X509EnhancedKeyUsageExtension ext = (X509EnhancedKeyUsageExtension)extension;
                        OidCollection oids = ext.EnhancedKeyUsages;
                        foreach (Oid oid in oids)
                        {
                            Console.WriteLine(oid.FriendlyName + "(" + oid.Value + ")");
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
            store.Close();
        }
        catch (CryptographicException)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Information could not be written out for this certificate.");
        }
    }
}
Imports System.Security.Cryptography
Imports System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates
Module CertSelect
    Sub Main()
        Try
            Dim store As New X509Store("MY", StoreLocation.CurrentUser)
            store.Open(OpenFlags.ReadOnly Or OpenFlags.OpenExistingOnly)
            Dim collection As X509Certificate2Collection = CType(store.Certificates, X509Certificate2Collection)
            For i As Integer = 0 To collection.Count - 1
                Dim extension As X509Extension
                For Each extension In collection(i).Extensions
                    Console.WriteLine(extension.Oid.FriendlyName + "(" + extension.Oid.Value + ")")
                    If extension.Oid.FriendlyName = "Key Usage" Then
                        Dim ext As X509KeyUsageExtension = CType(extension, X509KeyUsageExtension)
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.KeyUsages)
                    End If
                    If extension.Oid.FriendlyName = "Basic Constraints" Then
                        Dim ext As X509BasicConstraintsExtension = CType(extension, X509BasicConstraintsExtension)
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.CertificateAuthority)
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.HasPathLengthConstraint)
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.PathLengthConstraint)
                    End If
                    If extension.Oid.FriendlyName = "Subject Key Identifier" Then
                        Dim ext As X509SubjectKeyIdentifierExtension = CType(extension, X509SubjectKeyIdentifierExtension)
                        Console.WriteLine(ext.SubjectKeyIdentifier)
                    End If
                    If extension.Oid.FriendlyName = "Enhanced Key Usage" Then
                        Dim ext As X509EnhancedKeyUsageExtension = CType(extension, X509EnhancedKeyUsageExtension)
                        Dim oids As OidCollection = ext.EnhancedKeyUsages
                        Dim oid As Oid
                        For Each oid In oids
                            Console.WriteLine(oid.FriendlyName + "(" + oid.Value + ")")
                        Next oid
                    End If
                Next extension
            Next i
            store.Close()
        Catch
            Console.WriteLine("Information could not be written out for this certificate.")
        End Try
    End Sub
End Module
Remarks
Use this property to determine if the certificate is a certificate authority (CA) certificate.