A user ID is a character string that contains the public representation of a user's identity. When a user provides their user credentials to access a protected resource, OpenEdge allows, and in some cases requires, the user and domain to be specified as a single character value, with the domain name delimited by the '@' character, using this basic syntax:

Syntax

user-name[@domain-name]

If a user ID is specified without a domain, OpenEdge assumes the default domain. This format, which is similar to an E-mail address, is a fully qualifieduser ID. In certain cases, OpenEdge allows the user to specify only user-name (without a domain name) as a user ID, which is referred to as a non-qualifieduser ID, or simply the user account name. When a user specifies a non-qualified user ID for authentication, OpenEdge uses the blank domain as the user's domain, by default.

OpenEdge supports flexible options for entering user credentials, depending on the application or OpenEdge context, and sometimes prompts for the user and domain name as separate values. For more information on how an OpenEdge user can enter user credentials, see Entering user credentials in OpenEdge.