PGPKeyring Component

Properties   Methods   Events   Config Settings   Errors  

The PGPKeyring component accesses and manages PGP keyring files.

Syntax

nsoftware.SecureBlackbox.PGPKeyring

Remarks

PGPKeyring is used to hold and access PGP keys. It contains information about both public keys and secret keys, which are usually stored in two separate files: "public keyring" and "secret keyring", respectively.

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.

Keys Property (PGPKeyring Component)

PGP keys available in the keyring.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public PGPKeyList Keys { get; }

Public ReadOnly Property Keys As PGPKeyList

Remarks

This property populates a collection of all pgp keys contained in the keyring.

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

PinnedKey Property (PGPKeyring Component)

A PGP key that is being manipulated on.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public PGPKey PinnedKey { get; set; }

Public Property PinnedKey As PGPKey

Remarks

Use this property to specify a key to perform operations on, such as adding.

This property is not available at design time.

SelectedKeys Property (PGPKeyring Component)

The keys matching the selection criteria.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public PGPKeyList SelectedKeys { get; }

Public ReadOnly Property SelectedKeys As PGPKeyList

Remarks

This property contains all the keys that match the selection filter passed to Select method.

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

Config Method (PGPKeyring Component)

This method sets or retrieves a configuration setting.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public string Config(string configurationString);

Public Function Config(ByVal ConfigurationString As String) As 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 (PGPKeyring Component)

Performs an additional action.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public string DoAction(string actionID, string actionParams);

Public Function DoAction(ByVal ActionID As String, ByVal ActionParams As String) As 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 insensitive) 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;....

ExportBytes Method (PGPKeyring Component)

Exports the keyring to a byte array.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public byte[] ExportBytes(bool secret);

Public Function ExportBytes(ByVal Secret As Boolean) As Byte()

Remarks

Use this method to export the keyring to a byte array. PGP software typically uses two files to store keyrings. Use Secret parameter to specify which part of the keyring you would like to export (public or secret).

ExportToFile Method (PGPKeyring Component)

Exports the keyring to disk.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void ExportToFile(string fileName, bool secret);

Public Sub ExportToFile(ByVal FileName As String, ByVal Secret As Boolean)

Remarks

Use this method to export the keyring to disk. PGP software typically uses two files to store keyrings, public and private.

ExportToStream Method (PGPKeyring Component)

Exports the keyring to streams.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void ExportToStream(System.IO.Stream keyringStream, bool secret);

Public Sub ExportToStream(ByVal KeyringStream As System.IO.Stream, ByVal Secret As Boolean)

Remarks

Use this method to export the keyring to streams. PGP software typically uses two files to store keyrings, public and private.

ImportBytes Method (PGPKeyring Component)

Loads a key from a byte array.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void ImportBytes(byte[] keyring);

Public Sub ImportBytes(ByVal Keyring As Byte())

Remarks

Use this method to load a key, either public or secret, from a byte array.

ImportFromFile Method (PGPKeyring Component)

Loads a key from a file.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void ImportFromFile(string keyringFile);

Public Sub ImportFromFile(ByVal KeyringFile As String)

Remarks

Use this method to load a key, either public or secret, from a file.

ImportFromStream Method (PGPKeyring Component)

Loads a key from a stream.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void ImportFromStream(System.IO.Stream keyringStream);

Public Sub ImportFromStream(ByVal KeyringStream As System.IO.Stream)

Remarks

Use this method to load a key, either public or secret, from a stream.

ImportPinned Method (PGPKeyring Component)

Imports a pinned secret key to the keyring.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void ImportPinned();

Public Sub ImportPinned()

Remarks

Use this method to import a key provided via PinnedKey to the keyring. This can be a public or secret key.

Remove Method (PGPKeyring Component)

Removes the specified key from the keyring.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void Remove(int index);

Public Sub Remove(ByVal Index As Integer)

Remarks

Use this method to remove a key from the keyring. Use Index to pass the index of the key to be removed.

RemoveByID Method (PGPKeyring Component)

Removes key by its ID.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void RemoveByID(string keyID);

Public Sub RemoveByID(ByVal KeyID As String)

Remarks

Call this method to remove the specified key from the keyring.

Reset Method (PGPKeyring Component)

Creates a new empty keyring.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void Reset();

Public Sub Reset()

Remarks

Use this method to initialize a new empty keyring.

Select Method (PGPKeyring Component)

Filters a selection of keys from the keyring using a template.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void Select(string filter, bool secretOnly, int maxCount);

Public Sub Select(ByVal Filter As String, ByVal SecretOnly As Boolean, ByVal MaxCount As Integer)

Remarks

Use this method to get a list of keys that satisfy the Filter criteria. The filter should follow the "Name=Value" format, where Name can be one of the following: userid, fp, fingerprint, and keyid.

Set SecretOnly to True to only search for secret keys. MaxCount allows to limit the number of keys returned.

Once the method completes, the keys that match the criteria will be available in SelectedKeys property.

UpdatePinned Method (PGPKeyring Component)

Update a pinned key in the keyring.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public void UpdatePinned();

Public Sub UpdatePinned()

Remarks

Use this method to update a key provided via PinnedKey in the keyring. This can be a public or secret key.

Error Event (PGPKeyring Component)

Information about errors during PGP key management.

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public event OnErrorHandler OnError;

public delegate void OnErrorHandler(object sender, PGPKeyringErrorEventArgs e);

public class PGPKeyringErrorEventArgs : EventArgs {
  public int ErrorCode { get; }
  public string Description { get; }
}

Public Event OnError As OnErrorHandler

Public Delegate Sub OnErrorHandler(sender As Object, e As PGPKeyringErrorEventArgs)

Public Class PGPKeyringErrorEventArgs Inherits EventArgs
  Public ReadOnly Property ErrorCode As Integer
  Public ReadOnly Property Description As String
End Class

Remarks

The event is fired in case of exceptional conditions during key management.

ErrorCode contains an error code and Description contains a textual description of the error.

Notification Event (PGPKeyring Component)

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

Syntax

• C#
• VB.NET

public event OnNotificationHandler OnNotification;

public delegate void OnNotificationHandler(object sender, PGPKeyringNotificationEventArgs e);

public class PGPKeyringNotificationEventArgs : EventArgs {
  public string EventID { get; }
  public string EventParam { get; }
}

Public Event OnNotification As OnNotificationHandler

Public Delegate Sub OnNotificationHandler(sender As Object, e As PGPKeyringNotificationEventArgs)

Public Class PGPKeyringNotificationEventArgs Inherits EventArgs
  Public ReadOnly Property EventID As String
  Public ReadOnly Property EventParam As String
End Class

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 the 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.

PGPKey Type

This container represents a PGP key.

Remarks

OpenPGP standard supports several types of keys. In our days, a typical OpenPGP keypair actually consists of two cryptographic keys: a primary key and a subkey. The primary key is normally used for signing, while the subkey is used for encryption.

While it is typical for PGP environments to use a primary key/subkey bundle, this is not a must. Sometimes you may come across standalone keys (mainly when dealing with older implementations), as well as whole key trees, each of those carrying a bunch of differently-purposed subkeys bound to the same primary key.

Algorithm-wise, OpenPGP keys also differ. Generally speaking, OpenPGP supports the following public key algorithms: RSA, Elgamal (often incorrectly referred to as DH), DSA, ECDH and ECDSA. When it comes to primary key/subkey bundles, DSA/Elgamal, RSA/RSA and ECDSA/ECDH pairs are typically used. Although there's no restriction on algorithm bundles, and, e.g. a ECDSA/Elgamal key bundle is perfectly possible, such combination is rarely used in practice.

A typical OpenPGP key is associated with some kind of user ID (Username). It is normally represented with a user's e-mail address, while in theory can be any piece of text. The secret part of the OpenPGP keypair is protected with a password (Passphrase).

Fields

Constructors

• C#
• VB.NET

public PGPKey();

Public PGPKey()

Creates an empty PGP key object.

• C#
• VB.NET

public PGPKey(string fileName);

Public PGPKey(ByVal FileName As String)

Create a PGP key object from a key file.

Config Settings (PGPKeyring Component)

PGPKeyring Config Settings

Base Config Settings

Trappable Errors (PGPKeyring Component)

PGPKeyring Errors