MessageTimestamper Component

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The MessageTimestamper component timestamps data and stores it in the PKCS#7 format.

Syntax

TsbxMessageTimestamper

Remarks

PKCS#7 (Public Key Cryptography Standard #7) is a common format used to store encrypted and signed data. It is used by a variety of protocols, including S/MIME and CMS.

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.

DataFileName Property (MessageTimestamper Component)

A file name to be saved together with the timestamped data.

Syntax

property DataFileName: String read get_DataFileName write set_DataFileName;

Default Value

''

Remarks

Use this property to provide a file name to be stored in the timestamp together with the timestamped data. This is only informational and does not necessarily need to match the file name provided via InputFile.

DataURI Property (MessageTimestamper Component)

The URI to be included with the timestamped data.

Syntax

property DataURI: String read get_DataURI write set_DataURI;

Default Value

''

Remarks

Use this property to provide a URI to be saved alongside the timestamped data. This value is only informational.

Detached Property (MessageTimestamper Component)

Specifies whether a detached timestamp should be produced.

Syntax

property Detached: Boolean read get_Detached write set_Detached;

Default Value

false

Remarks

Set this property to true to produce a detached timestamp, i.e. kept separately and alongside the timestamped document.

FIPSMode Property (MessageTimestamper Component)

Reserved.

Syntax

property FIPSMode: Boolean read get_FIPSMode write set_FIPSMode;

Default Value

false

Remarks

This property is reserved for future use.

HashAlgorithm Property (MessageTimestamper Component)

Specifies the hash algorithm to be used.

Syntax

property HashAlgorithm: String read get_HashAlgorithm write set_HashAlgorithm;

Default Value

'SHA256'

Remarks

This property specifies the hash algorithm to used for calculating the signature.

InputBytes Property (MessageTimestamper Component)

Use this property to pass the input to component in the byte array form.

Syntax

property InputBytes: TBytes read get_InputBytes write set_InputBytes;

Remarks

Assign a byte array containing the data to be processed to this property.

This property is not available at design time.

InputFile Property (MessageTimestamper Component)

A path to the source file.

Syntax

property InputFile: String read get_InputFile write set_InputFile;

Default Value

''

Remarks

Use this property to provide a path to the file containing the data to be timestamped.

InputIsHash Property (MessageTimestamper Component)

Specifies whether the input source contains the hash of the data or the actual data.

Syntax

property InputIsHash: Boolean read get_InputIsHash write set_InputIsHash;

Default Value

false

Remarks

Use this property to tell the component whether the input source contains the actual data or its hash.

This property is not available at design time.

OutputBytes Property (MessageTimestamper Component)

Use this property to read the output the component object has produced.

Syntax

property OutputBytes: TBytes read get_OutputBytes;

Remarks

Read the contents of this property after the operation is completed to read the produced output. This property will only be set if OutputFile and OutputStream properties had not been assigned.

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

OutputFile Property (MessageTimestamper Component)

A path to the output file.

Syntax

property OutputFile: String read get_OutputFile write set_OutputFile;

Default Value

''

Remarks

Use this property to specify the file to save the timestamped message to.

Proxy Property (MessageTimestamper Component)

The proxy server settings.

Syntax

property Proxy: TsbxProxySettings read get_Proxy;

Remarks

Use this property to tune up the proxy server settings.

This property is read-only.

SocketSettings Property (MessageTimestamper Component)

Manages network connection settings.

Syntax

property SocketSettings: TsbxSocketSettings read get_SocketSettings;

Remarks

Use this property to tune up network connection parameters.

This property is read-only.

TimestampFormat Property (MessageTimestamper Component)

Configures the desired timestamp format.

Syntax

property TimestampFormat: TsbxTimestampFormats read get_TimestampFormat write set_TimestampFormat;

TsbxTimestampFormats = (
  mtfUnknown,
  mtfRFC5544,
  mtfCMS,
  mtfTSPReply
);

Default Value

mtfUnknown

Remarks

Use this property to set the format in which you would like to obtain the timestamp.

This property is not available at design time.

TimestampServer Property (MessageTimestamper Component)

The address of the timestamping server.

Syntax

property TimestampServer: String read get_TimestampServer write set_TimestampServer;

Default Value

''

Remarks

Use this property to provide the address of the Time Stamping Authority (TSA) server to be used for timestamping the signature.

SecureBlackbox supports RFC3161-compliant timestamping servers, available via HTTP or HTTPS.

If your timestamping service enforces credential-based user authentication (basic or digest), you can provide the credentials in the same URL:

http://user:password@timestamp.server.com/TsaService

For TSAs using certificate-based TLS authentication, provide the client certificate via the TLSClientChain property.

If this property is left empty, no timestamp will be added to the signature.

Starting from summer 2021 update (Vol. 2), the virtual timestamping service is supported, which allows you to intervene in the timestamping routine and provide your own handling for the TSA exchange. This may be handy if the service that you are requesting timestamps from uses a non-standard TSP protocol or requires special authentication option.

To employ the virtual service, assign an URI of the following format to this property:

virtual://localhost?hashonly=true&includecerts=true&reqpolicy=1.2.3.4.5&halg=SHA256

Subscribe to Notification event to get notified about the virtualized timestamping event. The EventID of the timestamping event is TimestampRequest. Inside the event handler, read the base16-encoded request from the EventParam parameter and forward it to the timestamping authority. Upon receiving the response, pass it back to the component, encoded in base16, via the TimestampResponse config property:

component.Config("TimestampResponse=308208ab...");

Note that all the exchange with your custom TSA should take place within the same invocation of the Notification event.

The hashonly parameter of the virtual URI tells the component to only return the timestamp message imprint via the EventParam parameter. If set to false, EventParam will contain the complete RFC3161 timestamping request.

The includecerts parameter specifies that the requestCertificates parameter of the timestamping request should be set to true.

The reqpolicy parameter lets you specify the request policy, and the halg parameter specifies the hash algorithm to use for timestamping.

All the parameters are optional.

TLSClientChain Property (MessageTimestamper Component)

The TLS client certificate chain.

Syntax

property TLSClientChain: TsbxCertificateList read get_TLSClientChain write set_TLSClientChain;

Remarks

Assign a certificate chain to this property to enable TLS client authentication in the component. Note that the client's end-entity certificate should have a private key associated with it.

This property is not available at design time.

TLSServerChain Property (MessageTimestamper Component)

The TLS server's certificate chain.

Syntax

property TLSServerChain: TsbxCertificateList read get_TLSServerChain;

Remarks

Use this property to access the certificate chain sent by the TLS server.

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

TLSSettings Property (MessageTimestamper Component)

Manages TLS layer settings.

Syntax

property TLSSettings: TsbxTLSSettings read get_TLSSettings;

Remarks

Use this property to tune up the TLS layer parameters.

This property is read-only.

Config Method (MessageTimestamper 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.

DoAction Method (MessageTimestamper Component)

Performs an additional action.

Syntax

function DoAction(ActionID: String; ActionParams: String): String;

Remarks

DoAction is a generic method available in every component. It is used to perform an additional action introduced after the product major release. The list of actions is not fixed, and may be flexibly extended over time.

The unique identifier (case insencitive) of the action is provided in the ActionID parameter.

ActionParams contains the value of a single parameter, or a list of multiple parameters for the action in the form of PARAM1=VALUE1;PARAM2=VALUE2;....

Timestamp Method (MessageTimestamper Component)

Timestamps the data.

Syntax

procedure Timestamp();

Remarks

Call this method to timestamp the content provided in InputFile (or InputStream) with a trusted timestamp from TimestampServer.

Error Event (MessageTimestamper Component)

Information about errors during PKCS#7 message encryption.

Syntax

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

property OnError: TErrorEvent read FOnError write FOnError;

Remarks

The event is fired in case of exceptional conditions during message processing.

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 Messages section.

Notification Event (MessageTimestamper Component)

This event notifies the application about an underlying control flow event.

Syntax

type TNotificationEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  const EventID: String;
  const EventParam: String
) of Object;

property OnNotification: TNotificationEvent read FOnNotification write FOnNotification;

Remarks

The component fires this event to let the application know about some event, occurrence, or milestone in the component. For example, it may fire to report completion of the document processing. The list of events being reported is not fixed, and may be flexibly extended over time.

The unique identifier of the event is provided in EventID parameter. EventParam contains any parameters accompanying the occurrence. Depending on the type of the component, the exact action it is performing, or the document being processed, one or both may be omitted.

This component can fire this event with the following EventID values:

TimestampRequest Event (MessageTimestamper Component)

Fires when the component is ready to request a timestamp from an external TSA.

Syntax

type TTimestampRequestEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  const TSA: String;
  const TimestampRequest: String;
  var TimestampResponse: String;
  var SuppressDefault: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnTimestampRequest: TTimestampRequestEvent read FOnTimestampRequest write FOnTimestampRequest;

Remarks

Subscribe to this event to be intercept timestamp requests. You can use it to override timestamping requests and perform them in your code.

The TSA parameter indicates the timestamping service being used. It matches the value passed to TimestampServer property. Set SuppressDefault parameter to false if you would like to stop the built-in TSA request from going ahead. The built-in TSA request is also not performed if the returned TimestampResponse parameter is not empty.

TLSCertNeeded Event (MessageTimestamper Component)

Fires when a remote TLS party requests a client certificate.

Syntax

type TTLSCertNeededEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  const Host: String;
  const CANames: String
) of Object;

property OnTLSCertNeeded: TTLSCertNeededEvent read FOnTLSCertNeeded write FOnTLSCertNeeded;

Remarks

This event fires to notify the implementation that a remote TLS server has requested a client certificate. The Host parameter identifies the host that makes a request, and the CANames (optional, according to the TLS spec) advises on the accepted issuing CAs.

Use the TLSClientChain property in response to this event to provide the requested certificate. Please make sure the client certificate includes the associated private key. Note that you may set the certificates before the connection without waiting for this event to fire.

This event is preceded by the TLSHandshake event for the given host and, if the certificate was accepted, succeeded by the TLSEstablished event.

TLSCertValidate Event (MessageTimestamper Component)

This event is fired upon receipt of the TLS server's certificate, allowing the user to control its acceptance.

Syntax

type TTLSCertValidateEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  const ServerHost: String;
  const ServerIP: String;
  var Accept: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnTLSCertValidate: TTLSCertValidateEvent read FOnTLSCertValidate write FOnTLSCertValidate;

Remarks

This event is fired during a TLS handshake. Use TLSServerChain property to access the certificate chain. In general case, components may contact a number of TLS endpoints during their work, depending on their configuration.

Accept is assigned in accordance with the outcome of the internal validation check performed by the component, and can be adjusted if needed.

TLSEstablished Event (MessageTimestamper Component)

Fires when a TLS handshake with Host successfully completes.

Syntax

type TTLSEstablishedEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  const Host: String;
  const Version: String;
  const Ciphersuite: String;
  ConnectionId: TBytes;
  var Abort: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnTLSEstablished: TTLSEstablishedEvent read FOnTLSEstablished write FOnTLSEstablished;

Remarks

The component uses this event to notify the application about successful completion of a TLS handshake.

The Version, Ciphersuite, and ConnectionId parameters indicate security parameters of the new connection. Use the Abort parameter if you need to terminate the connection at this stage.

TLSHandshake Event (MessageTimestamper Component)

Fires when a new TLS handshake is initiated, before the handshake commences.

Syntax

type TTLSHandshakeEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  const Host: String;
  var Abort: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnTLSHandshake: TTLSHandshakeEvent read FOnTLSHandshake write FOnTLSHandshake;

Remarks

The component uses this event to notify the application about the start of a new TLS handshake to Host. If the handshake is successful, this event will be followed with TLSEstablished event. If the server chooses to request a client certificate, TLSCertNeeded event will also be fired.

TLSShutdown Event (MessageTimestamper Component)

Reports the graceful closure of a TLS connection.

Syntax

type TTLSShutdownEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  const Host: String
) of Object;

property OnTLSShutdown: TTLSShutdownEvent read FOnTLSShutdown write FOnTLSShutdown;

Remarks

This event notifies the application about the closure of an earlier established TLS connection. Note that only graceful connection closures are reported.

Certificate Type

Provides details of an individual X.509 certificate.

Remarks

This type provides access to X.509 certificate details.

Fields

constructor Create();

constructor Create();

constructor Create();

constructor Create();

Config Settings (MessageTimestamper Component)

MessageTimestamper Config Settings

Base Config Settings

Trappable Errors (MessageTimestamper Component)

MessageTimestamper Errors