The OM class DS_C_RELATIVE_NAME represents the RDNs of objects in the directory. It is an abstract class, which has the attributes of its superclass, OM_C_OBJECT, and no other OM attributes.
An RDN is part of a name, and only distinguishes the object from others that are its siblings. This OM class is used to accumulate all possible representations of RDNs. An argument of interface functions that is an RDN, or an OM attribute value that is an RDN is an instance of one of the subclasses of this OM class.
The DCE XDS API defines one subclass of this OM class, and, thus, a single representation for RDNs; that is, DS_C_DS_RDN, which provides a representation for RDNs.