XMLSig Control

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

Syntax

XMLSig

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 References property 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)
• References (required)
• SignatureXPath
• SigningAlgorithm

Input and Output Properties

The control 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 control will scan the XML document and fire the SignatureInfo event for each signature that is found. When the SignatureInfo event fires the References collection will be populated.

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

The ReferenceXMLElement 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 property. The control will automatically parse the signer certificate (if present) from the signed XML and populate the SignerCert property with the parsed value.

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

When the SignatureInfo event finishes firing, the certificate present in the SignerCert property will be used to verify the signature, whether this is the certificate automatically parsed by the control 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 fails with an error.

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.

CanonicalizationMethod Property (XMLSig Control)

The canonicalization method applied to the signature.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CanonicalizationMethod[=integer]

Possible Values

cmC14N(0), 
cmC14NComments(1), 
cmC14N11(2), 
cmC14N11Comments(3), 
cmExcC14N(4), 
cmExcC14NComments(5)

Default Value

0

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.

Data Type

Integer

CertEffectiveDate Property (XMLSig Control)

The date on which this certificate becomes valid.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertEffectiveDate

Default Value

""

Remarks

The date on which this certificate becomes valid. Before this date, it is not valid. The date is localized to the system's time zone. The following example illustrates the format of an encoded date:

23-Jan-2000 15:00:00.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertExpirationDate Property (XMLSig Control)

The date on which the certificate expires.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertExpirationDate

Default Value

""

Remarks

The date on which the certificate expires. After this date, the certificate will no longer be valid. The date is localized to the system's time zone. The following example illustrates the format of an encoded date:

23-Jan-2001 15:00:00.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertExtendedKeyUsage Property (XMLSig Control)

A comma-delimited list of extended key usage identifiers.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertExtendedKeyUsage

Default Value

""

Remarks

A comma-delimited list of extended key usage identifiers. These are the same as ASN.1 object identifiers (OIDs).

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertFingerprint Property (XMLSig Control)

The hex-encoded, 16-byte MD5 fingerprint of the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertFingerprint

Default Value

""

Remarks

The hex-encoded, 16-byte MD5 fingerprint of the certificate. This property is primarily used for keys which do not have a corresponding X.509 public certificate, such as PEM keys that only contain a private key. It is commonly used for SSH keys.

The following example illustrates the format: bc:2a:72:af:fe:58:17:43:7a:5f:ba:5a:7c:90:f7:02

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertFingerprintSHA1 Property (XMLSig Control)

The hex-encoded, 20-byte SHA-1 fingerprint of the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertFingerprintSHA1

Default Value

""

Remarks

The hex-encoded, 20-byte SHA-1 fingerprint of the certificate. This property is primarily used for keys which do not have a corresponding X.509 public certificate, such as PEM keys that only contain a private key. It is commonly used for SSH keys.

The following example illustrates the format: 30:7b:fa:38:65:83:ff:da:b4:4e:07:3f:17:b8:a4:ed:80:be:ff:84

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertFingerprintSHA256 Property (XMLSig Control)

The hex-encoded, 32-byte SHA-256 fingerprint of the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertFingerprintSHA256

Default Value

""

Remarks

The hex-encoded, 32-byte SHA-256 fingerprint of the certificate. This property is primarily used for keys which do not have a corresponding X.509 public certificate, such as PEM keys that only contain a private key. It is commonly used for SSH keys.

The following example illustrates the format: 6a:80:5c:33:a9:43:ea:b0:96:12:8a:64:96:30:ef:4a:8a:96:86:ce:f4:c7:be:10:24:8e:2b:60:9e:f3:59:53

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertIssuer Property (XMLSig Control)

The issuer of the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertIssuer

Default Value

""

Remarks

The issuer of the certificate. This property contains a string representation of the name of the issuing authority for the certificate.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertPrivateKey Property (XMLSig Control)

The private key of the certificate (if available).

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertPrivateKey

Default Value

""

Remarks

The private key of the certificate (if available). The key is provided as PEM/Base64-encoded data.

Note: The CertPrivateKey may be available but not exportable. In this case, CertPrivateKey returns an empty string.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertPrivateKeyAvailable Property (XMLSig Control)

Whether a PrivateKey is available for the selected certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertPrivateKeyAvailable

Default Value

False

Remarks

Whether a CertPrivateKey is available for the selected certificate. If CertPrivateKeyAvailable is True, the certificate may be used for authentication purposes (e.g., server authentication).

This property is read-only.

Data Type

Boolean

CertPrivateKeyContainer Property (XMLSig Control)

The name of the PrivateKey container for the certificate (if available).

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertPrivateKeyContainer

Default Value

""

Remarks

The name of the CertPrivateKey container for the certificate (if available). This functionality is available only on Windows platforms.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertPublicKey Property (XMLSig Control)

The public key of the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertPublicKey

Default Value

""

Remarks

The public key of the certificate. The key is provided as PEM/Base64-encoded data.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertPublicKeyAlgorithm Property (XMLSig Control)

The textual description of the certificate's public key algorithm.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertPublicKeyAlgorithm

Default Value

""

Remarks

The textual description of the certificate's public key algorithm. The property contains either the name of the algorithm (e.g., "RSA" or "RSA_DH") or an object identifier (OID) string representing the algorithm.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertPublicKeyLength Property (XMLSig Control)

The length of the certificate's public key (in bits).

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertPublicKeyLength

Default Value

0

Remarks

The length of the certificate's public key (in bits). Common values are 512, 1024, and 2048.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

Integer

CertSerialNumber Property (XMLSig Control)

The serial number of the certificate encoded as a string.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertSerialNumber

Default Value

""

Remarks

The serial number of the certificate encoded as a string. The number is encoded as a series of hexadecimal digits, with each pair representing a byte of the serial number.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertSignatureAlgorithm Property (XMLSig Control)

The text description of the certificate's signature algorithm.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertSignatureAlgorithm

Default Value

""

Remarks

The text description of the certificate's signature algorithm. The property contains either the name of the algorithm (e.g., "RSA" or "RSA_MD5RSA") or an object identifier (OID) string representing the algorithm.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertStore Property (XMLSig Control)

The name of the certificate store for the client certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertStore[=string]

Default Value

"MY"

Remarks

The name of the certificate store for the client certificate.

The CertStoreType property denotes the type of the certificate store specified by CertStore. If the store is password-protected, specify the password in CertStorePassword.

CertStore is used in conjunction with the CertSubject property to specify client certificates. If CertStore has a value, and CertSubject or CertEncoded is set, a search for a certificate is initiated. Please see the CertSubject 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 cstPFXFile, this property must be set to the name of the file. When the type is cstPFXBlob, the property must be set to the binary contents of a PFX file (i.e., PKCS#12 certificate store).

To read or write binary data to the property, a Variant (Byte Array) version is provided in .CertStoreB.

Data Type

Binary String

CertStorePassword Property (XMLSig Control)

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

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertStorePassword[=string]

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.

Data Type

String

CertStoreType Property (XMLSig Control)

The type of certificate store for this certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertStoreType[=integer]

Possible Values

cstUser(0), 
cstMachine(1), 
cstPFXFile(2), 
cstPFXBlob(3), 
cstJKSFile(4), 
cstJKSBlob(5), 
cstPEMKeyFile(6), 
cstPEMKeyBlob(7), 
cstPublicKeyFile(8), 
cstPublicKeyBlob(9), 
cstSSHPublicKeyBlob(10), 
cstP7BFile(11), 
cstP7BBlob(12), 
cstSSHPublicKeyFile(13), 
cstPPKFile(14), 
cstPPKBlob(15), 
cstXMLFile(16), 
cstXMLBlob(17), 
cstJWKFile(18), 
cstJWKBlob(19), 
cstSecurityKey(20), 
cstBCFKSFile(21), 
cstBCFKSBlob(22), 
cstPKCS11(23), 
cstAuto(99)

Default Value

0

Remarks

The type of certificate store for this certificate.

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

Data Type

Integer

CertSubjectAltNames Property (XMLSig Control)

Comma-separated lists of alternative subject names for the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertSubjectAltNames

Default Value

""

Remarks

Comma-separated lists of alternative subject names for the certificate.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertThumbprintMD5 Property (XMLSig Control)

The MD5 hash of the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertThumbprintMD5

Default Value

""

Remarks

The MD5 hash of the certificate. It is primarily used for X.509 certificates. If the hash does not already exist, it is automatically computed.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertThumbprintSHA1 Property (XMLSig Control)

The SHA-1 hash of the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertThumbprintSHA1

Default Value

""

Remarks

The SHA-1 hash of the certificate. It is primarily used for X.509 certificates. If the hash does not already exist, it is automatically computed.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertThumbprintSHA256 Property (XMLSig Control)

The SHA-256 hash of the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertThumbprintSHA256

Default Value

""

Remarks

The SHA-256 hash of the certificate. It is primarily used for X.509 certificates. If the hash does not already exist, it is automatically computed.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertUsage Property (XMLSig Control)

The text description of UsageFlags .

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertUsage

Default Value

""

Remarks

The text description of CertUsageFlags.

This value will be one or more of the following strings and will be separated by commas:

• Digital Signature
• Non-Repudiation
• Key Encipherment
• Data Encipherment
• Key Agreement
• Certificate Signing
• CRL Signing
• Encipher Only

If the provider is OpenSSL, the value is a comma-separated list of X.509 certificate extension names.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertUsageFlags Property (XMLSig Control)

The flags that show intended use for the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertUsageFlags

Default Value

0

Remarks

The flags that show intended use for the certificate. The value of CertUsageFlags is a combination of the following flags:

Please see the CertUsage property for a text representation of CertUsageFlags.

This functionality currently is not available when the provider is OpenSSL.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

Integer

CertVersion Property (XMLSig Control)

The certificate's version number.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertVersion

Default Value

""

Remarks

The certificate's version number. The possible values are the strings "V1", "V2", and "V3".

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

CertSubject Property (XMLSig Control)

The subject of the certificate used for client authentication.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertSubject[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

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.

Data Type

String

CertEncoded Property (XMLSig Control)

The certificate (PEM/Base64 encoded).

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.CertEncoded[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

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

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

To read or write binary data to the property, a Variant (Byte Array) version is provided in .CertEncodedB.

This property is not available at design time.

Data Type

Binary String

HMACKey Property (XMLSig Control)

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

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.HMACKey[=string]

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.

To read or write binary data to the property, a Variant (Byte Array) version is provided in .HMACKeyB.

This property is not available at design time.

Data Type

Binary String

InputFile Property (XMLSig Control)

The XML file to process.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.InputFile[=string]

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 control 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.

Data Type

String

InputXML Property (XMLSig Control)

The XML to process.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.InputXML[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property specifies the XML to be processed.

Input and Output Properties

The control 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.

Data Type

String

OutputFile Property (XMLSig Control)

The output file.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.OutputFile[=string]

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 control 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.

Data Type

String

OutputXML Property (XMLSig Control)

The output XML after processing.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.OutputXML[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

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

Input and Output Properties

The control 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.

Data Type

String

Overwrite Property (XMLSig Control)

Indicates whether or not the control should overwrite files.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.Overwrite[=boolean]

Default Value

False

Remarks

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

Data Type

Boolean

ReferenceCount Property (XMLSig Control)

The number of records in the Reference arrays.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.ReferenceCount[=integer]

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property controls the size of the following arrays:

• ReferenceHashAlgorithm
• ReferenceHashValue
• ReferenceTransformAlgorithms
• ReferenceURI
• ReferenceXMLElement

The array indices start at 0 and end at ReferenceCount - 1.

This property is not available at design time.

Data Type

Integer

ReferenceHashAlgorithm Property (XMLSig Control)

This property defines the hash algorithm to apply to the element specified by XMLElement .

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.ReferenceHashAlgorithm(ReferenceIndex)[=string]

Default Value

"SHA1"

Remarks

This property defines the hash algorithm to apply to the element specified by ReferenceXMLElement. Possible values are:

• "SHA1" (default)
• "SHA256"
• "SHA512"

The ReferenceIndex parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the ReferenceCount property.

This property is not available at design time.

Data Type

String

ReferenceHashValue Property (XMLSig Control)

This property holds the calculated hash value for the specified XMLElement .

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.ReferenceHashValue(ReferenceIndex)

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property holds the calculated hash value for the specified ReferenceXMLElement.

The ReferenceIndex parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the ReferenceCount property.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

Data Type

String

ReferenceTransformAlgorithms Property (XMLSig Control)

This property specifies a comma separated list of canonicalization algorithms to be applied to XMLElement .

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.ReferenceTransformAlgorithms(ReferenceIndex)[=string]

Default Value

"C14N"

Remarks

This property specifies a comma separated list of canonicalization algorithms to be applied to ReferenceXMLElement. The XML data specified by ReferenceXMLElement will be transformed using the specified algorithm(s) before the HashAlgorithm is applied. The default value is "C14N". Possible values are:

The ReferenceIndex parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the ReferenceCount property.

This property is not available at design time.

Data Type

String

ReferenceURI Property (XMLSig Control)

This property is the URI of the reference.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.ReferenceURI(ReferenceIndex)[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property is the URI of the reference. The value specified here identifies the data within the document.

When signing, this value may be set to a URI reference which identifies ReferenceXMLElement. ReferenceXMLElement must be set separately.

When verifying, this value may be checked within the SignatureInfo event to identify the location of ReferenceXMLElement. ReferenceXMLElement must be set separately.

The ReferenceIndex parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the ReferenceCount property.

This property is not available at design time.

Data Type

String

ReferenceXMLElement Property (XMLSig Control)

This property specifies XML element to sign or verify using XPath notation.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.ReferenceXMLElement(ReferenceIndex)[=string]

Default Value

"/"

Remarks

This property specifies XML element to sign or verify using XPath notation. When signing, this must be set before calling Sign. When verifying, this must be set from within the SignatureInfo event. The ReferenceURI property may be used to help identify the correct XML element.

The ReferenceIndex parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the ReferenceCount property.

This property is not available at design time.

Data Type

String

SignatureXPath Property (XMLSig Control)

The XPath of the signature.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignatureXPath[=string]

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.

Data Type

String

SignerCertEffectiveDate Property (XMLSig Control)

The date on which this certificate becomes valid.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertEffectiveDate

Default Value

""

Remarks

The date on which this certificate becomes valid. Before this date, it is not valid. The date is localized to the system's time zone. The following example illustrates the format of an encoded date:

23-Jan-2000 15:00:00.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertExpirationDate Property (XMLSig Control)

The date on which the certificate expires.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertExpirationDate

Default Value

""

Remarks

The date on which the certificate expires. After this date, the certificate will no longer be valid. The date is localized to the system's time zone. The following example illustrates the format of an encoded date:

23-Jan-2001 15:00:00.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertExtendedKeyUsage Property (XMLSig Control)

A comma-delimited list of extended key usage identifiers.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertExtendedKeyUsage

Default Value

""

Remarks

A comma-delimited list of extended key usage identifiers. These are the same as ASN.1 object identifiers (OIDs).

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertFingerprint Property (XMLSig Control)

The hex-encoded, 16-byte MD5 fingerprint of the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertFingerprint

Default Value

""

Remarks

The hex-encoded, 16-byte MD5 fingerprint of the certificate. This property is primarily used for keys which do not have a corresponding X.509 public certificate, such as PEM keys that only contain a private key. It is commonly used for SSH keys.

The following example illustrates the format: bc:2a:72:af:fe:58:17:43:7a:5f:ba:5a:7c:90:f7:02

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertFingerprintSHA1 Property (XMLSig Control)

The hex-encoded, 20-byte SHA-1 fingerprint of the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertFingerprintSHA1

Default Value

""

Remarks

The hex-encoded, 20-byte SHA-1 fingerprint of the certificate. This property is primarily used for keys which do not have a corresponding X.509 public certificate, such as PEM keys that only contain a private key. It is commonly used for SSH keys.

The following example illustrates the format: 30:7b:fa:38:65:83:ff:da:b4:4e:07:3f:17:b8:a4:ed:80:be:ff:84

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertFingerprintSHA256 Property (XMLSig Control)

The hex-encoded, 32-byte SHA-256 fingerprint of the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertFingerprintSHA256

Default Value

""

Remarks

The hex-encoded, 32-byte SHA-256 fingerprint of the certificate. This property is primarily used for keys which do not have a corresponding X.509 public certificate, such as PEM keys that only contain a private key. It is commonly used for SSH keys.

The following example illustrates the format: 6a:80:5c:33:a9:43:ea:b0:96:12:8a:64:96:30:ef:4a:8a:96:86:ce:f4:c7:be:10:24:8e:2b:60:9e:f3:59:53

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertIssuer Property (XMLSig Control)

The issuer of the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertIssuer

Default Value

""

Remarks

The issuer of the certificate. This property contains a string representation of the name of the issuing authority for the certificate.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertPrivateKey Property (XMLSig Control)

The private key of the certificate (if available).

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertPrivateKey

Default Value

""

Remarks

The private key of the certificate (if available). The key is provided as PEM/Base64-encoded data.

Note: The SignerCertPrivateKey may be available but not exportable. In this case, SignerCertPrivateKey returns an empty string.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertPrivateKeyAvailable Property (XMLSig Control)

Whether a PrivateKey is available for the selected certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertPrivateKeyAvailable

Default Value

False

Remarks

Whether a SignerCertPrivateKey is available for the selected certificate. If SignerCertPrivateKeyAvailable is True, the certificate may be used for authentication purposes (e.g., server authentication).

This property is read-only.

Data Type

Boolean

SignerCertPrivateKeyContainer Property (XMLSig Control)

The name of the PrivateKey container for the certificate (if available).

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertPrivateKeyContainer

Default Value

""

Remarks

The name of the SignerCertPrivateKey container for the certificate (if available). This functionality is available only on Windows platforms.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertPublicKey Property (XMLSig Control)

The public key of the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertPublicKey

Default Value

""

Remarks

The public key of the certificate. The key is provided as PEM/Base64-encoded data.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertPublicKeyAlgorithm Property (XMLSig Control)

The textual description of the certificate's public key algorithm.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertPublicKeyAlgorithm

Default Value

""

Remarks

The textual description of the certificate's public key algorithm. The property contains either the name of the algorithm (e.g., "RSA" or "RSA_DH") or an object identifier (OID) string representing the algorithm.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertPublicKeyLength Property (XMLSig Control)

The length of the certificate's public key (in bits).

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertPublicKeyLength

Default Value

0

Remarks

The length of the certificate's public key (in bits). Common values are 512, 1024, and 2048.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

Integer

SignerCertSerialNumber Property (XMLSig Control)

The serial number of the certificate encoded as a string.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertSerialNumber

Default Value

""

Remarks

The serial number of the certificate encoded as a string. The number is encoded as a series of hexadecimal digits, with each pair representing a byte of the serial number.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertSignatureAlgorithm Property (XMLSig Control)

The text description of the certificate's signature algorithm.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertSignatureAlgorithm

Default Value

""

Remarks

The text description of the certificate's signature algorithm. The property contains either the name of the algorithm (e.g., "RSA" or "RSA_MD5RSA") or an object identifier (OID) string representing the algorithm.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertStore Property (XMLSig Control)

The name of the certificate store for the client certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertStore[=string]

Default Value

"MY"

Remarks

The name of the certificate store for the client certificate.

The SignerCertStoreType property denotes the type of the certificate store specified by SignerCertStore. If the store is password-protected, specify the password in SignerCertStorePassword.

SignerCertStore is used in conjunction with the SignerCertSubject property to specify client certificates. If SignerCertStore has a value, and SignerCertSubject or SignerCertEncoded is set, a search for a certificate is initiated. Please see the SignerCertSubject 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 cstPFXFile, this property must be set to the name of the file. When the type is cstPFXBlob, the property must be set to the binary contents of a PFX file (i.e., PKCS#12 certificate store).

To read or write binary data to the property, a Variant (Byte Array) version is provided in .SignerCertStoreB.

Data Type

Binary String

SignerCertStorePassword Property (XMLSig Control)

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

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertStorePassword[=string]

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.

Data Type

String

SignerCertStoreType Property (XMLSig Control)

The type of certificate store for this certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertStoreType[=integer]

Possible Values

cstUser(0), 
cstMachine(1), 
cstPFXFile(2), 
cstPFXBlob(3), 
cstJKSFile(4), 
cstJKSBlob(5), 
cstPEMKeyFile(6), 
cstPEMKeyBlob(7), 
cstPublicKeyFile(8), 
cstPublicKeyBlob(9), 
cstSSHPublicKeyBlob(10), 
cstP7BFile(11), 
cstP7BBlob(12), 
cstSSHPublicKeyFile(13), 
cstPPKFile(14), 
cstPPKBlob(15), 
cstXMLFile(16), 
cstXMLBlob(17), 
cstJWKFile(18), 
cstJWKBlob(19), 
cstSecurityKey(20), 
cstBCFKSFile(21), 
cstBCFKSBlob(22), 
cstPKCS11(23), 
cstAuto(99)

Default Value

0

Remarks

The type of certificate store for this certificate.

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

Data Type

Integer

SignerCertSubjectAltNames Property (XMLSig Control)

Comma-separated lists of alternative subject names for the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertSubjectAltNames

Default Value

""

Remarks

Comma-separated lists of alternative subject names for the certificate.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertThumbprintMD5 Property (XMLSig Control)

The MD5 hash of the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertThumbprintMD5

Default Value

""

Remarks

The MD5 hash of the certificate. It is primarily used for X.509 certificates. If the hash does not already exist, it is automatically computed.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertThumbprintSHA1 Property (XMLSig Control)

The SHA-1 hash of the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertThumbprintSHA1

Default Value

""

Remarks

The SHA-1 hash of the certificate. It is primarily used for X.509 certificates. If the hash does not already exist, it is automatically computed.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertThumbprintSHA256 Property (XMLSig Control)

The SHA-256 hash of the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertThumbprintSHA256

Default Value

""

Remarks

The SHA-256 hash of the certificate. It is primarily used for X.509 certificates. If the hash does not already exist, it is automatically computed.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertUsage Property (XMLSig Control)

The text description of UsageFlags .

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertUsage

Default Value

""

Remarks

The text description of SignerCertUsageFlags.

This value will be one or more of the following strings and will be separated by commas:

• Digital Signature
• Non-Repudiation
• Key Encipherment
• Data Encipherment
• Key Agreement
• Certificate Signing
• CRL Signing
• Encipher Only

If the provider is OpenSSL, the value is a comma-separated list of X.509 certificate extension names.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertUsageFlags Property (XMLSig Control)

The flags that show intended use for the certificate.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertUsageFlags

Default Value

0

Remarks

The flags that show intended use for the certificate. The value of SignerCertUsageFlags is a combination of the following flags:

Please see the SignerCertUsage property for a text representation of SignerCertUsageFlags.

This functionality currently is not available when the provider is OpenSSL.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

Integer

SignerCertVersion Property (XMLSig Control)

The certificate's version number.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertVersion

Default Value

""

Remarks

The certificate's version number. The possible values are the strings "V1", "V2", and "V3".

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

SignerCertSubject Property (XMLSig Control)

The subject of the certificate used for client authentication.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertSubject[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

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.

Data Type

String

SignerCertEncoded Property (XMLSig Control)

The certificate (PEM/Base64 encoded).

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SignerCertEncoded[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

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

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

To read or write binary data to the property, a Variant (Byte Array) version is provided in .SignerCertEncodedB.

This property is not available at design time.

Data Type

Binary String

SigningAlgorithm Property (XMLSig Control)

The signing algorithm.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.SigningAlgorithm[=string]

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.

Data Type

String

Config Method (XMLSig Control)

Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.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.

DoEvents Method (XMLSig Control)

This method processes events from the internal message queue.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.DoEvents 

Remarks

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

Reset Method (XMLSig Control)

Resets the control.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.Reset 

Remarks

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

Sign Method (XMLSig Control)

Signs the XML.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.Sign 

Remarks

This methods signs the XML.

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

The References property 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)
• References (required)
• SignatureXPath
• SigningAlgorithm

Input and Output Properties

The control 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 Control)

Verifies signed XML.

Syntax

xmlsigcontrol.VerifySignature 

Remarks

This method verifies signatures contained in the XML.

When VerifySignature is called, the control will scan the XML document and fire the SignatureInfo event for each signature that is found. When the SignatureInfo event fires the References collection will be populated.

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

The ReferenceXMLElement 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 property. The control will automatically parse the signer certificate (if present) from the signed XML and populate the SignerCert property with the parsed value.

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

When the SignatureInfo event finishes firing, the certificate present in the SignerCert property will be used to verify the signature, whether this is the certificate automatically parsed by the control 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 fails with an error.

Error Event (XMLSig Control)

Fired when information is available about errors during data delivery.

Syntax

Sub xmlsigcontrol_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.

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 Control)

Fired as progress is made.

Syntax

Sub xmlsigcontrol_Progress(BytesProcessed As Long64, PercentProcessed As Integer, Operation As Integer, IsEOF As Boolean)

Remarks

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

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 control. When the Operation is Write (2) this value may be queried to determine when all data has been processed.

SignatureInfo Event (XMLSig Control)

Fired when a signature is found.

Syntax

Sub xmlsigcontrol_SignatureInfo(SignatureId As String, SignerCertParsed As Boolean)

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 control will scan the XML document and fire the SignatureInfo event for each signature that is found. When the SignatureInfo event fires the References collection will be populated.

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

The ReferenceXMLElement 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 property. The control will automatically parse the signer certificate (if present) from the signed XML and populate the SignerCert property with the parsed value.

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

When the SignatureInfo event finishes firing, the certificate present in the SignerCert property will be used to verify the signature, whether this is the certificate automatically parsed by the control 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 fails with an error.

Status Event (XMLSig Control)

Provides information about the current operation.

Syntax

Sub xmlsigcontrol_Status(Message As String)

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.

Config Settings (XMLSig Control)

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 Control)

XMLSig Errors

XML Errors