HOTP Control

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The HOTP control allows creation of HMAC-Based One-Time passwords.

Syntax

HOTP

Remarks

The HOTP control implements the HOTP algorithm defined in RFC 4226 (HMAC-Based One-Time Password). These types of passwords are commonly used as a second factor of authentication in multi-factor authentication scenarios.

To begin specify the shared secret in the Secret property.

Next, you may set Counter. If this property is not set, the control will use a default value.

To create the password call CreatePassword. The Password property will be populated with the new password.

To validate a password set the Password property and call ValidatePassword. The method will return True or False to indicate success or failure.

Property List

The following is the full list of the properties of the control with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Method List

The following is the full list of the methods of the control with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Event List

The following is the full list of the events fired by the control with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Config Settings

The following is a list of config settings for the control with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Counter Property (HOTP Control)

The counter used for HMAC-Based One Time Password creation or validation.

Syntax

hotpcontrol.Counter[=long64]

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property holds the counter value used for HMAC-Based One Time Password creation or validation. This value must be specified before calling CreatePassword or ValidatePassword. The value should be incremented each time a password is created.

The default value is 0.

Data Type

Long64

Password Property (HOTP Control)

The HMAC-Based One Time Password.

Syntax

hotpcontrol.Password[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property holds the HMAC-Based One Time Password. This property is populated after calling CreatePassword. This property must be set before calling ValidatePassword.

Data Type

String

Secret Property (HOTP Control)

The Base32 encoded shared secret used when creating and validating a password.

Syntax

hotpcontrol.Secret[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property specifies the Base32 encoded shared secret used when creating and validating a password. This should be set before calling CreatePassword or ValidatePassword.

If this is not set before calling CreatePassword a random secret will be automatically generated. This functionality provides an easy way to create new secret values. The length of the secret is defined by SecretLength.

Data Type

String

Config Method (HOTP Control)

Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.

Syntax

hotpcontrol.Config ConfigurationString

Remarks

Config is a generic method available in every control. It is used to set and retrieve configuration settings for the control.

These settings are similar in functionality to properties, but they are rarely used. In order to avoid "polluting" the property namespace of the control, access to these internal properties is provided through the Config method.

To set a configuration setting named PROPERTY, you must call Config("PROPERTY=VALUE"), where VALUE is the value of the setting expressed as a string. For boolean values, use the strings "True", "False", "0", "1", "Yes", or "No" (case does not matter).

To read (query) the value of a configuration setting, you must call Config("PROPERTY"). The value will be returned as a string.

CreatePassword Method (HOTP Control)

Creates a HMAC-Based One Time Password.

Syntax

hotpcontrol.CreatePassword 

Remarks

This method creates a HMAC-Based One Time Password.

The following properties are applicable when calling CreatePassword.

• Secret
• Counter

Calling CreatePassword populates the Password property with the created password.

If Secret is not specified before calling this method a random secret will be automatically generated.

Reset Method (HOTP Control)

Reset the variables to default value.

Syntax

hotpcontrol.Reset 

Remarks

This method will reset the variables to default value.

ValidatePassword Method (HOTP Control)

Validates a HMAC-Based One Time Password.

Syntax

hotpcontrol.ValidatePassword 

Remarks

This method validates a HMAC-Based One Time Password.

The following properties are applicable when calling ValidatePassword.

• Password (required)
• Secret (required)
• Counter (required)

The method will return True if the password is validated, False otherwise.

Error Event (HOTP Control)

Information about errors during data delivery.

Syntax

Sub hotpcontrol_Error(ErrorCode As Integer, Description As String)

Remarks

The Error event is fired in case of exceptional conditions during message processing. Normally the control fails with an error.

ErrorCode contains an error code and Description contains a textual description of the error. For a list of valid error codes and their descriptions, please refer to the Error Codes section.

Config Settings (HOTP Control)

HOTP Config Settings

//TOTP
otpauth://totp/MyServiceName:account@company.com?secret=JBSWY3DPEHPK3PXP&digits=6&period=30

//HOTP
otpauth://hotp/MyServiceName:account@company.com?secret=JBSWY3DPEHPK3PXP&digits=6&counter=0

Base Config Settings

Trappable Errors (HOTP Control)

HOTP Errors