Interest of NameIDFormat in entity metadata

[Guillaume Rousse]

Hello.

I'm a bit curious about the interest of the NameIDFormat element in 
entity metadata. According to the specification, it is used to advertise 
formats supported by an entity:
Zero or more elements of type anyURI that enumerate the name identifier 
formats supported by this system entity acting in this role. See Section 
8.3 of [SAMLCore] for some possible values for this element

As the format used is given alongside the NameID itself in SAML message, 
mentionning it in metadata seems a bit useless. The only use case I see 
would be to help an IdP supporting multiple formats to select the 
correct one in its response, if the SP explicitely mention what it wants 
in its metadata. But I don't see the need for an IdP to enumerate 
supported formats, for instance, at least for automated processing.

Am I missing something here ?

Regards.
-- 
Guillaume Rousse
Direction des Services Applicatifs
RENATER - Paris
Tel: +33 1 53 94 20 45
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