Security Descriptor Strings

A valid, functional security descriptor contains security information in binary format. The Win32 API provides functions for converting binary security descriptors to and from text strings. Security descriptors in string format are not functional, but they can be useful for storing or transporting security descriptor information.

To convert a security descriptor to a string format, call the ConvertSecurityDescriptorToStringSecurityDescriptor function. To convert a string-format security descriptor back to a valid, functional security descriptor, call the ConvertStringSecurityDescriptorToSecurityDescriptor function.

For more information, see Security Descriptor Definition Language.