MLDSA Control

Properties   Methods   Events   Config Settings   Errors  

The MLDSA control can be used to create and verify digital signatures using Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Algorithm (ML-DSA) cryptography.

Syntax

MLDSA

Remarks

The MLDSA component can be used to create and verify digital signatures using Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Algorithm (ML-DSA) cryptography. Includes support for ML-DSA-44, ML-DSA-65, and ML-DSA-87 parameter sets.

Note that by default the component uses ML-DSA-44. You may specify the parameter set by setting ParamSet.

Property List

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

Method List

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

Event List

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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

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

Context Property (MLDSA Control)

The ML-DSA context string.

Syntax

mldsacontrol.Context[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property specifies the optional ML-DSA context used when signing and verifying. This property may be empty. The default value is empty.

The same value must be specified when calling Sign and Verify.

The maximum length is 255 bytes.

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

Data Type

Binary String

HashAlgorithm Property (MLDSA Control)

The hash algorithm used when PreHash is enabled.

Syntax

mldsacontrol.HashAlgorithm[=integer]

Possible Values

mhaSHA256(0), 
mhaSHA384(1), 
mhaSHA512(2)

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property specifies the hash algorithm used to pre-hash input data when PreHash is set to True.

Possible values are:

• 0 (mhaSHA256 - default): SHA-256
• 1 (mhaSHA384): SHA-384
• 2 (mhaSHA512): SHA-512

Data Type

Integer

InputFile Property (MLDSA Control)

The file to process.

Syntax

mldsacontrol.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
• InputMessage

When a valid source is found, the search stops. The order in which the output properties are checked is as follows:

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

Data Type

String

InputMessage Property (MLDSA Control)

The message to process.

Syntax

mldsacontrol.InputMessage[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property specifies the message 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
• InputMessage

When a valid source is found, the search stops. The order in which the output properties are checked is as follows:

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

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

Data Type

Binary String

KeyPrivateKey Property (MLDSA Control)

The raw ML-DSA private key.

Syntax

mldsacontrol.KeyPrivateKey[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

The raw ML-DSA private key.

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

Data Type

Binary String

KeyPublicKey Property (MLDSA Control)

The raw ML-DSA public key.

Syntax

mldsacontrol.KeyPublicKey[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

The raw ML-DSA public key.

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

Data Type

Binary String

PreHash Property (MLDSA Control)

Whether to use HashML-DSA when signing and verifying.

Syntax

mldsacontrol.PreHash[=boolean]

Default Value

False

Remarks

This property specifies whether the component uses HashML-DSA when signing and verifying.

If set to True, the input is pre-hashed using HashAlgorithm before signing or verifying. This supports a single pass over input data from InputFile or .

If set to False (default), pure ML-DSA is used.

Data Type

Boolean

Signature Property (MLDSA Control)

The signature.

Syntax

mldsacontrol.Signature[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property holds the ML-DSA signature.

It is populated by Sign and must be set before calling Verify.

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

Data Type

Binary String

UseHex Property (MLDSA Control)

Whether the signature is hex encoded.

Syntax

mldsacontrol.UseHex[=boolean]

Default Value

False

Remarks

This property specifies whether Signature is hex encoded.

If set to False (default), the signature is provided as-is with no encoding.

When Sign is called and this property is set to True, Signature is hex encoded when populated.

When Verify is called and this property is set to True, Signature is treated as hex encoded.

Input data from InputMessage, InputFile, or SetInputStream is always processed as provided.

Data Type

Boolean

Config Method (MLDSA Control)

Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.

Syntax

mldsacontrol.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.

CreateKey Method (MLDSA Control)

Creates a new key.

Syntax

mldsacontrol.CreateKey 

Remarks

CreateKey creates a new ML-DSA public and private key pair.

Reset Method (MLDSA Control)

Resets the control.

Syntax

mldsacontrol.Reset 

Remarks

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

Sign Method (MLDSA Control)

Creates a signature.

Syntax

mldsacontrol.Sign 

Remarks

This method signs the data specified by InputFile or InputMessage using the private key in Key and populates Signature.

Verify Method (MLDSA Control)

Verifies a signature.

Syntax

mldsacontrol.Verify 

Remarks

This method verifies Signature for the data specified by InputFile or InputMessage using the public key in Key. The result is returned.

Error Event (MLDSA Control)

Fired when information is available about errors during data delivery.

Syntax

Sub mldsacontrol_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 (MLDSA Control)

Fired as progress is made.

Syntax

Sub mldsacontrol_Progress(BytesProcessed As Long64, PercentProcessed As Integer)

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.

Config Settings (MLDSA Control)

The control accepts one or more of the following configuration settings. Configuration 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.

MLDSA Config Settings

Base Config Settings

Trappable Errors (MLDSA Control)

MLDSA Errors