Merge pull request #416 from Lukasa/docs/asn1

Explain that FILETYPE_ASN1 is DER.
pyca · Feb 7, 2016 · 565d3b8 · 565d3b8
2 parents 4304888 + 4756925
commit 565d3b8
Showing 1 changed file with 7 additions and 3 deletions.
diff --git a/doc/api/crypto.rst b/doc/api/crypto.rst
@@ -34,11 +34,15 @@ Elliptic curves
 Serialization and deserialization
 ---------------------------------
 
-The following serialization functions take one of these constants to
-determine the format:
+The following serialization functions take one of these constants to determine the format.
 
 .. py:data:: FILETYPE_PEM
-             FILETYPE_ASN1
+
+:data:`FILETYPE_PEM` serializes data to a Base64-encoded encoded representation of the underlying ASN.1 data structure. This representation includes delimiters that define what data structure is contained within the Base64-encoded block: for example, for a certificate, the delimiters are ``-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----`` and ``-----END CERTIFICATE-----``.
+
+.. py:data:: FILETYPE_ASN1
+
+:data:`FILETYPE_ASN1` serializes data to the underlying ASN.1 data structure. The format used by :data:`FILETYPE_ASN1` is also sometimes referred to as DER.
 
 Certificates
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~