---
title: Why do I need to use “CN=Jane” in createobject messages and not just “Jane”?
description: "A quirk of Active Directory is that Organizational Units use an OU property rather than a CN property to define their place in the directory structure. In `createobject` messages you need to use `CN=` to create most objects. However, to…"
url: "https://activeadapter.com/biztalk-adapters/knowledge-base/why-do-i-need-to-use-cnjane-in-createobject-messages-and-not-just-jane/"
updated: "2026-09-25"
category: "How-To"
---

# Why do I need to use “CN=Jane” in createobject messages and not just “Jane”?

A quirk of Active Directory is that Organizational Units use an OU property rather than a CN property to define their place in the directory structure. In `createobject` messages you need to use `CN=` to create most objects. However, to allow you to create OUs we had to allow you to specify this with `OU=MyNewOU`.