Deciphering the encoded claims string
During a recent claims discussion, it came up how SharePoint 2010 encodes claims into encoded claim strings.
Here’s the answer:
The claim i:0#.w|europe\andrasg translates into:
i: This is an identity claim. Other claims would have the character c here.
:: Colon separator
0: Reserved for later use
#: Claim type = SPClaimTypes.UserLogonName
.: Claim value type = Microsoft.IdentityModel.Claims.ClaimValueTypes.String
You can find the full list of values at:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg481769.aspx
These unified encoding values ensure that different farms can understand each others claims. Be aware though that if you use a custom claim type, the encoded string can differ from farm to farm.