Validate Method

Validates the certificate chain.

Syntax

int Validate();

Remarks

Use this method to validate the certificate chain that starts with Certificate.

The chain validation is a multi-step process which includes validation of each certificate in the chain up to the trusted anchor. The ultimate goal of this process is to establish the integrity of the chain and its trustworthiness.

Depending on the component tuneup, the validation process may differ drastically, even for the same certificate: it may be more or less rigorous, may include or exclude revocation checks, and may be more or less tolerant to minor chain issues.

When this process is completed, the final decision on the validity of the checked certificate is returned from this method, and also saved in ChainValidationResult property. Another property, ChainValidationDetails, provides insight into the reasons that contributed to that decision. Use ValidationLog to get a detailed step-by-step log of the entire validation process.

Error Handling

This method returns an Integer value; after it returns, call the GetLastErrorCode() method to obtain its result code; 0 indicates success, while a non-zero error code indicates that this method encountered an error during its execution. If an error occurs, the GetLastError() method can be called to retrieve the associated error message.