XMLSig Component

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The XMLSig component is used to sign XML and verify signed XML.

Syntax

TipcXMLSig

Remarks

The XMLSig component provides an easy to use API for signing and verifying signed XML. The Sign method will create signed XML with an enveloped signature. The VerifySignature method will attempt to verify the signature(s) within a XML document.

Sign

Before calling Sign specify the XML to sign by setting InputFile, or InputXML.

The Reference* properties must be set. At least one reference must be set. A reference defines the XML element to sign, and the options that specify how it is transformed and hashed during the signing process.

Set Certificate to a certificate with private key.

Optionally set the CanonicalizationMethod. This determines how the signature itself is canonicalized. SigningAlgorithm defines the algorithm used to sign. The SignatureXPath property may be set to specify the location in the XML document where the signature will be placed.

Lastly, call Sign to sign the XML.

The following properties are applicable when calling this method:

• CanonicalizationMethod
• Certificate (required)
• Reference* (required)
• SignatureXPath
• SigningAlgorithm

Input and Output Properties

The component will determine the source and destination of the input and output based on which properties are set.

The order in which the input properties are checked is as follows:

• InputFile
• InputXML

• OutputFile
• OutputXML: The output data is written to this property if no other destination is specified.

Verify a Signature

When VerifySignature is called, the component will scan the XML document and fire the SignatureInfo event for each signature that is found. When the SignatureInfo event fires the Reference* properties will be populated.

Within the SignatureInfo event the XMLElement property must be set to the location of the XML element to which the signature applies. The URI property may contain data helpful to locating the XML element.

The XMLElement property specifies the XPath to the element. For instance:

The signature is verified either using a key parsed from the signed XML, or using the certificate specified by the SignerCert* properties. The component will automatically parse the signer certificate (if present) from the signed XML and populate the SignerCert* properties with the parsed value.

When SignatureInfo fires, if the SignerCertParsed parameter is True the SignerCert* properties may be inspected to see the details of the parsed certificate. If SignerCertParsed is False, then the SignerCert* properties must be set to a valid certificate for signature verification to proceed.

When the SignatureInfo event finishes firing, the certificate present in the SignerCert* properties will be used to verify the signature, whether this is the certificate automatically parsed by the component or a different certificate specified within the event.

If the signature was successfully verified the method will return without error. If the signature was not verified the method raises an exception.

Property List

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

Method List

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

Event List

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

Config Settings

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

CanonicalizationMethod Property (XMLSig Component)

The canonicalization method applied to the signature.

Syntax

property CanonicalizationMethod: TipcTCanonicalizationMethods read get_CanonicalizationMethod write set_CanonicalizationMethod;

TipcTCanonicalizationMethods = (
  cmC14N,
  cmC14NComments,
  cmC14N11,
  cmC14N11Comments,
  cmExcC14N,
  cmExcC14NComments
);

Default Value

cmC14N

Remarks

This property specifies the canonicalization method that is applied to the signature. This may be set before calling Sign. This will be set automatically after calling VerifySignature. Possible values are:

This property is not available at design time.

CertEncoded Property (XMLSig Component)

This is the certificate (PEM/Base64 encoded).

Syntax

property CertEncoded: String read get_CertEncoded write set_CertEncoded;
property CertEncodedB: TBytes read get_CertEncodedB write set_CertEncodedB;

Default Value

''

Remarks

This is the certificate (PEM/Base64 encoded). This property is used to assign a specific certificate. The Store and Subject properties also may be used to specify a certificate.

When Encoded is set, a search is initiated in the current Store for the private key of the certificate. If the key is found, Subject is updated to reflect the full subject of the selected certificate; otherwise, Subject is set to an empty string.

This property is not available at design time.

CertStore Property (XMLSig Component)

This is the name of the certificate store for the client certificate.

Syntax

property CertStore: String read get_CertStore write set_CertStore;
property CertStoreB: TBytes read get_CertStoreB write set_CertStoreB;

Default Value

'MY'

Remarks

This is the name of the certificate store for the client certificate.

The StoreType property denotes the type of the certificate store specified by Store. If the store is password protected, specify the password in StorePassword.

Store is used in conjunction with the Subject property to specify client certificates. If Store has a value, and Subject or Encoded is set, a search for a certificate is initiated. Please see the Subject property for details.

Designations of certificate stores are platform dependent.

The following designations are the most common User and Machine certificate stores in Windows:

When the certificate store type is PFXFile, this property must be set to the name of the file. When the type is PFXBlob, the property must be set to the binary contents of a PFX file (i.e., PKCS#12 certificate store).

CertStorePassword Property (XMLSig Component)

If the type of certificate store requires a password, this property is used to specify the password needed to open the certificate store.

Syntax

property CertStorePassword: String read get_CertStorePassword write set_CertStorePassword;

Default Value

''

Remarks

If the type of certificate store requires a password, this property is used to specify the password needed to open the certificate store.

CertStoreType Property (XMLSig Component)

This is the type of certificate store for this certificate.

Syntax

property CertStoreType: TipcCertStoreTypes read get_CertStoreType write set_CertStoreType;

TipcCertStoreTypes = (
  cstUser,
  cstMachine,
  cstPFXFile,
  cstPFXBlob,
  cstJKSFile,
  cstJKSBlob,
  cstPEMKeyFile,
  cstPEMKeyBlob,
  cstPublicKeyFile,
  cstPublicKeyBlob,
  cstSSHPublicKeyBlob,
  cstP7BFile,
  cstP7BBlob,
  cstSSHPublicKeyFile,
  cstPPKFile,
  cstPPKBlob,
  cstXMLFile,
  cstXMLBlob,
  cstJWKFile,
  cstJWKBlob,
  cstSecurityKey,
  cstBCFKSFile,
  cstBCFKSBlob,
  cstPKCS11,
  cstAuto
);

Default Value

cstUser

Remarks

This is the type of certificate store for this certificate.

The component supports both public and private keys in a variety of formats. When the cstAuto value is used, the component will automatically determine the type. This property can take one of the following values:

CertSubject Property (XMLSig Component)

This is the subject of the certificate used for client authentication.

Syntax

property CertSubject: String read get_CertSubject write set_CertSubject;

Default Value

''

Remarks

This is the subject of the certificate used for client authentication.

This property must be set after all other certificate properties are set. When this property is set, a search is performed in the current certificate store to locate a certificate with a matching subject.

If a matching certificate is found, the property is set to the full subject of the matching certificate.

If an exact match is not found, the store is searched for subjects containing the value of the property.

If a match is still not found, the property is set to an empty string, and no certificate is selected.

The special value "*" picks a random certificate in the certificate store.

The certificate subject is a comma-separated list of distinguished name fields and values. For instance, "CN=www.server.com, OU=test, C=US, E=support@nsoftware.com". Common fields and their meanings are as follows:

If a field value contains a comma, it must be quoted.

HMACKey Property (XMLSig Component)

The HMAC key used with the 'HMAC-SHA1' signing algorithm.

Syntax

property HMACKey: String read get_HMACKey write set_HMACKey;
property HMACKeyB: TBytes read get_HMACKeyB write set_HMACKeyB;

Default Value

''

Remarks

This property defines the HMAC key to be used when SigningAlgorithm is set to "HMAC-SHA1". This must be set before calling before calling Sign.

This property is also applicable when calling VerifySignature. This may be set before calling VerifySignature or from within the SignatureInfo event.

This property is not available at design time.

InputFile Property (XMLSig Component)

The XML file to process.

Syntax

property InputFile: String read get_InputFile write set_InputFile;

Default Value

''

Remarks

This property specifies the file to be processed. Set this property to the full or relative path to the file which will be processed.

Input and Output Properties

The component will determine the source and destination of the input and output based on which properties are set.

The order in which the input properties are checked is as follows:

• InputFile
• InputXML

• OutputFile
• OutputXML: The output data is written to this property if no other destination is specified.

This property is not available at design time.

InputXML Property (XMLSig Component)

The XML to process.

Syntax

property InputXML: String read get_InputXML write set_InputXML;

Default Value

''

Remarks

This property specifies the XML to be processed.

Input and Output Properties

The component will determine the source and destination of the input and output based on which properties are set.

The order in which the input properties are checked is as follows:

• InputFile
• InputXML

• OutputFile
• OutputXML: The output data is written to this property if no other destination is specified.

This property is not available at design time.

OutputFile Property (XMLSig Component)

The output file.

Syntax

property OutputFile: String read get_OutputFile write set_OutputFile;

Default Value

''

Remarks

This property specifies the file to which the output will be written. This may be set to an absolute or relative path.

Input and Output Properties

The component will determine the source and destination of the input and output based on which properties are set.

The order in which the input properties are checked is as follows:

• InputFile
• InputXML

• OutputFile
• OutputXML: The output data is written to this property if no other destination is specified.

This property is not available at design time.

OutputXML Property (XMLSig Component)

The output XML after processing.

Syntax

property OutputXML: String read get_OutputXML write set_OutputXML;

Default Value

''

Remarks

This property will be populated with the output from the operation if OutputFile is not set.

Input and Output Properties

The component will determine the source and destination of the input and output based on which properties are set.

The order in which the input properties are checked is as follows:

• InputFile
• InputXML

• OutputFile
• OutputXML: The output data is written to this property if no other destination is specified.

This property is not available at design time.

Overwrite Property (XMLSig Component)

Indicates whether or not the component should overwrite files.

Syntax

property Overwrite: Boolean read get_Overwrite write set_Overwrite;

Default Value

false

Remarks

This property indicates whether or not the component will overwrite OutputFile. If Overwrite is False, an error will be thrown whenever OutputFile exists before an operation. The default value is False.

References Property (XMLSig Component)

A collection of references.

Syntax

property References: TipcXMLSigReferenceList read get_References write set_References;

Remarks

This property holds a collection of reference to sign or verify. This must be populated before calling Sign. This will be populated by the component when calling VerifySignature and is accessible from within the SignatureInfo event.

This property is not available at design time.

SignatureXPath Property (XMLSig Component)

The XPath of the signature.

Syntax

property SignatureXPath: String read get_SignatureXPath write set_SignatureXPath;

Default Value

'/'

Remarks

This property specifies the XPath in the XML where the signature will be placed.

This may be set before calling Sign. This property will be populated when calling VerifySignature.

The default value is "/".

This property is not available at design time.

SignerCertEncoded Property (XMLSig Component)

This is the certificate (PEM/Base64 encoded).

Syntax

property SignerCertEncoded: String read get_SignerCertEncoded write set_SignerCertEncoded;
property SignerCertEncodedB: TBytes read get_SignerCertEncodedB write set_SignerCertEncodedB;

Default Value

''

Remarks

This is the certificate (PEM/Base64 encoded). This property is used to assign a specific certificate. The Store and Subject properties also may be used to specify a certificate.

When Encoded is set, a search is initiated in the current Store for the private key of the certificate. If the key is found, Subject is updated to reflect the full subject of the selected certificate; otherwise, Subject is set to an empty string.

This property is not available at design time.

SignerCertStore Property (XMLSig Component)

This is the name of the certificate store for the client certificate.

Syntax

property SignerCertStore: String read get_SignerCertStore write set_SignerCertStore;
property SignerCertStoreB: TBytes read get_SignerCertStoreB write set_SignerCertStoreB;

Default Value

'MY'

Remarks

This is the name of the certificate store for the client certificate.

The StoreType property denotes the type of the certificate store specified by Store. If the store is password protected, specify the password in StorePassword.

Store is used in conjunction with the Subject property to specify client certificates. If Store has a value, and Subject or Encoded is set, a search for a certificate is initiated. Please see the Subject property for details.

Designations of certificate stores are platform dependent.

The following designations are the most common User and Machine certificate stores in Windows:

When the certificate store type is PFXFile, this property must be set to the name of the file. When the type is PFXBlob, the property must be set to the binary contents of a PFX file (i.e., PKCS#12 certificate store).

SignerCertStorePassword Property (XMLSig Component)

If the type of certificate store requires a password, this property is used to specify the password needed to open the certificate store.

Syntax

property SignerCertStorePassword: String read get_SignerCertStorePassword write set_SignerCertStorePassword;

Default Value

''

Remarks

If the type of certificate store requires a password, this property is used to specify the password needed to open the certificate store.

SignerCertStoreType Property (XMLSig Component)

This is the type of certificate store for this certificate.

Syntax

property SignerCertStoreType: TipcCertStoreTypes read get_SignerCertStoreType write set_SignerCertStoreType;

TipcCertStoreTypes = (
  cstUser,
  cstMachine,
  cstPFXFile,
  cstPFXBlob,
  cstJKSFile,
  cstJKSBlob,
  cstPEMKeyFile,
  cstPEMKeyBlob,
  cstPublicKeyFile,
  cstPublicKeyBlob,
  cstSSHPublicKeyBlob,
  cstP7BFile,
  cstP7BBlob,
  cstSSHPublicKeyFile,
  cstPPKFile,
  cstPPKBlob,
  cstXMLFile,
  cstXMLBlob,
  cstJWKFile,
  cstJWKBlob,
  cstSecurityKey,
  cstBCFKSFile,
  cstBCFKSBlob,
  cstPKCS11,
  cstAuto
);

Default Value

cstUser

Remarks

This is the type of certificate store for this certificate.

The component supports both public and private keys in a variety of formats. When the cstAuto value is used, the component will automatically determine the type. This property can take one of the following values:

SignerCertSubject Property (XMLSig Component)

This is the subject of the certificate used for client authentication.

Syntax

property SignerCertSubject: String read get_SignerCertSubject write set_SignerCertSubject;

Default Value

''

Remarks

This is the subject of the certificate used for client authentication.

This property must be set after all other certificate properties are set. When this property is set, a search is performed in the current certificate store to locate a certificate with a matching subject.

If a matching certificate is found, the property is set to the full subject of the matching certificate.

If an exact match is not found, the store is searched for subjects containing the value of the property.

If a match is still not found, the property is set to an empty string, and no certificate is selected.

The special value "*" picks a random certificate in the certificate store.

The certificate subject is a comma-separated list of distinguished name fields and values. For instance, "CN=www.server.com, OU=test, C=US, E=support@nsoftware.com". Common fields and their meanings are as follows:

If a field value contains a comma, it must be quoted.

SigningAlgorithm Property (XMLSig Component)

The signing algorithm.

Syntax

property SigningAlgorithm: String read get_SigningAlgorithm write set_SigningAlgorithm;

Default Value

''

Remarks

This property specifies the signing algorithm.

This may be set before calling Sign. This value will be set after calling VerifySignature. Possible values are:

• "RSA-SHA1" (default)
• "RSA-SHA256"
• "DSA-SHA1"
• "HMAC-SHA1"

This property is not available at design time.

Config Method (XMLSig Component)

Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.

Syntax

function Config(ConfigurationString: String): String;

Remarks

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

These settings are similar in functionality to properties, but they are rarely used. In order to avoid "polluting" the property namespace of the component, 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.

DoEvents Method (XMLSig Component)

Processes events from the internal message queue.

Syntax

procedure DoEvents();

Remarks

When DoEvents is called, the component processes any available events. If no events are available, it waits for a preset period of time, and then returns.

Reset Method (XMLSig Component)

Resets the component.

Syntax

procedure Reset();

Remarks

When called, the component will reset all of its properties to their default values.

SetInputStream Method (XMLSig Component)

Sets the stream from which the component will read data to sign or verify.

Syntax

procedure SetInputStream(InputStream: TStream);

Remarks

This method sets the stream from which the component will read data to sign or verify. If an input stream is set before calling Sign or VerifySignature, the data is read from the input stream instead of from the InputFile or InputXML properties.

The content of the stream will be read from the current position all the way to the end and no bytes will be skipped.

Input and Output Properties

The component will determine the source and destination of the input and output based on which properties are set.

The order in which the input properties are checked is as follows:

• InputFile
• InputXML

• OutputFile
• OutputXML: The output data is written to this property if no other destination is specified.

SetOutputStream Method (XMLSig Component)

The stream to which the component will write the signed or verified XML.

Syntax

procedure SetOutputStream(OutputStream: TStream);

Remarks

This method sets the stream to which the component will write the signed or verified XML. If an output stream is set before calling Sign or VerifySignature, the component will write the data to the output stream instead of populating OutputXML or writing to OutputFile.

Input and Output Properties

The component will determine the source and destination of the input and output based on which properties are set.

The order in which the input properties are checked is as follows:

• InputFile
• InputXML

• OutputFile
• OutputXML: The output data is written to this property if no other destination is specified.

Sign Method (XMLSig Component)

Signs the XML.

Syntax

procedure Sign();

Remarks

This methods signs the XML.

Before calling Sign specify the XML to sign by setting InputFile, or InputXML.

The Reference* properties must be set. At least one reference must be set. A reference defines the XML element to sign, and the options that specify how it is transformed and hashed during the signing process.

Set Certificate to a certificate with private key.

Optionally set the CanonicalizationMethod. This determines how the signature itself is canonicalized. SigningAlgorithm defines the algorithm used to sign. The SignatureXPath property may be set to specify the location in the XML document where the signature will be placed.

Lastly, call Sign to sign the XML.

The following properties are applicable when calling this method:

• CanonicalizationMethod
• Certificate (required)
• Reference* (required)
• SignatureXPath
• SigningAlgorithm

Input and Output Properties

The component will determine the source and destination of the input and output based on which properties are set.

The order in which the input properties are checked is as follows:

• InputFile
• InputXML

• OutputFile
• OutputXML: The output data is written to this property if no other destination is specified.

VerifySignature Method (XMLSig Component)

Verifies signed XML.

Syntax

procedure VerifySignature();

Remarks

This method verifies signatures contained in the XML.

When VerifySignature is called, the component will scan the XML document and fire the SignatureInfo event for each signature that is found. When the SignatureInfo event fires the Reference* properties will be populated.

Within the SignatureInfo event the XMLElement property must be set to the location of the XML element to which the signature applies. The URI property may contain data helpful to locating the XML element.

The XMLElement property specifies the XPath to the element. For instance:

The signature is verified either using a key parsed from the signed XML, or using the certificate specified by the SignerCert* properties. The component will automatically parse the signer certificate (if present) from the signed XML and populate the SignerCert* properties with the parsed value.

When SignatureInfo fires, if the SignerCertParsed parameter is True the SignerCert* properties may be inspected to see the details of the parsed certificate. If SignerCertParsed is False, then the SignerCert* properties must be set to a valid certificate for signature verification to proceed.

When the SignatureInfo event finishes firing, the certificate present in the SignerCert* properties will be used to verify the signature, whether this is the certificate automatically parsed by the component or a different certificate specified within the event.

If the signature was successfully verified the method will return without error. If the signature was not verified the method raises an exception.

Error Event (XMLSig Component)

Fired when information is available about errors during data delivery.

Syntax

type TErrorEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ErrorCode: Integer;
  const Description: String
) of Object;

property OnError: TErrorEvent read FOnError write FOnError;

Remarks

The Error event is fired in case of exceptional conditions during message processing. Normally the component raises an exception.

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

Progress Event (XMLSig Component)

Fired as progress is made.

Syntax

type TProgressEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  BytesProcessed: Int64;
  PercentProcessed: Integer;
  Operation: Integer;
  var IsEOF: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnProgress: TProgressEvent read FOnProgress write FOnProgress;

Remarks

This event is fired automatically as data is processed by the component.

The PercentProcessed parameter indicates the current status of the operation.

The BytesProcessed parameter holds the total number of bytes processed so far.

The Operation parameter is only applicable when either ReadFromProgressEvent or WriteToProgressEvent is set to True. This parameter defines whether a Read or Write operation is required. If the configuration settings are not set this parameter will always return 0. Possible values are:

The IsEOF parameter is only applicable when either ReadFromProgressEvent or WriteToProgressEvent is set to True. This parameter defines whether the Read or Write operation is complete. When the Operation is Read (1) this parameter must be set to indicate that all data has been supplied to the component. When the Operation is Write (2) this value may be queried to determine when all data has been processed.

SignatureInfo Event (XMLSig Component)

Fired when a signature is found.

Syntax

type TSignatureInfoEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  const SignatureId: String;
  SignerCertParsed: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnSignatureInfo: TSignatureInfoEvent read FOnSignatureInfo write FOnSignatureInfo;

Remarks

This event fires when calling VerifySignature for each signature found within the XML document.

SignatureId is the id of the signature.

SignerCertParsed indicates whether the signer's certificate was automatically parsed from the signed XML.

Verification Notes

When VerifySignature is called, the component will scan the XML document and fire the SignatureInfo event for each signature that is found. When the SignatureInfo event fires the Reference* properties will be populated.

Within the SignatureInfo event the XMLElement property must be set to the location of the XML element to which the signature applies. The URI property may contain data helpful to locating the XML element.

The XMLElement property specifies the XPath to the element. For instance:

The signature is verified either using a key parsed from the signed XML, or using the certificate specified by the SignerCert* properties. The component will automatically parse the signer certificate (if present) from the signed XML and populate the SignerCert* properties with the parsed value.

When SignatureInfo fires, if the SignerCertParsed parameter is True the SignerCert* properties may be inspected to see the details of the parsed certificate. If SignerCertParsed is False, then the SignerCert* properties must be set to a valid certificate for signature verification to proceed.

When the SignatureInfo event finishes firing, the certificate present in the SignerCert* properties will be used to verify the signature, whether this is the certificate automatically parsed by the component or a different certificate specified within the event.

If the signature was successfully verified the method will return without error. If the signature was not verified the method raises an exception.

Status Event (XMLSig Component)

Provides information about the current operation.

Syntax

type TStatusEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  const Message: String
) of Object;

property OnStatus: TStatusEvent read FOnStatus write FOnStatus;

Remarks

The event is fired for informational and logging purposes only. It may be used to track the progress of an operation.

The level of detail is controlled by the LogLevel setting.

XMLSigReference Type

This type defines information about the reference.

Remarks

This type defines information about the reference including the location within the document (XMLElement), TransformAlgorithms, HashAlgorithm, and URI.

Fields

Constructors

constructor Create();

constructor Create(valXMLElement: String; valURI: String; valHashAlgorithm: String; valTransformAlgorithms: String; valHashValue: String);

Config Settings (XMLSig Component)

XMLSig Config Settings

<root>
  <node1>
    <ds:Signature>...</ds:Signature>
  </node1>
  <node2></node2>
  <node3></node3>
</root>

<root>
  <node1></node1>
  <ds:Signature>...</ds:Signature>
  <node2></node2>
  <node3></node3>
</root>

Base Config Settings

Trappable Errors (XMLSig Component)

XMLSig Errors

XML Errors