Utils Class

Properties Methods Events Config Settings Errors

The Utils class offers a selection of popular helper methods that may be of use in a variety of scenarios.

Syntax

class secureblackbox.Utils

Remarks

If you need to resolve a hostname to an IP address, encode a string using a specific character encoding, or compose a multipart message, look no further. This is exactly what Utils is intended for. Below is a summary of little useful features that this class can help you with.

Encoding and decoding

Encode binary data to base64 and decode it back (base64_encode and base64_decode)
Hex-encode and decode (hex_encode and hex_decode)
Encode and decode dates - particularly handy when working with other suite components that expect string dates (string_to_date, date_to_string)
Convert object identifiers from and to string representation (string_to_oid, oid_to_string)
Convert string to any supported character encoding (string_encode and string_decode).

Networking helpers

Get local network parameters with get_local_ip and get_local_dns_name
Resolve remote domain names into IP addresses (get_remote_ip)
URL-encode and decode HTTP and other data (url_encode and url_decode).

Work with multipart MIME messages

Compose a multipart body with add_part_from_bytes and save_multipart_to_bytes
Load and process existing multiparts with load_multipart_from_bytes and get_part_to_bytes.

Utils class also offers a useful get_error_description method that lets you obtain a human-readable message for every SecureBlackbox error code you might get. // base64Encode byte[] bytes = ("Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance," + " you must keep moving. (Albert Einstein)").getBytes(); String base64Encoded = utils.base64Encode(bytes,false); System.out.println(base64Encoded); // base64Decode String decoded = new String(utils.base64Decode(base64Encoded,false)); System.out.println(decoded); // Example: Using another SecureBlackbox component to get a string // and convert it to a Java Date object MessageVerifier verifier = new MessageVerifier(); verifier.setInputFile("signedMessage.bin"); verifier.setOutputFile("output.txt"); verifier.verify(); String verifiedDate = verifier.getValidatedSigningTime(); // Retrieving the string: 2024-05-17 13:25:26 Date date = utils.stringToDate(verifiedDate); // Using utils to convert it System.out.println(date); // Output : Fri May 17 13:25:26 CEST 2024 // Retrieving remote IP String hostName = "nsoftware.com"; System.out.println("Hostname: " + hostName + " has this IP: " + utils.getRemoteIP("www.nsoftware.com",false,dmAuto,"",60)); // Output: Hostname: nsoftware.com has this IP: 52.168.9.41 // Hex Encode byte[] bytes = ("Genius is one percent inspiration and " + "ninety-nine percent perspiration.(Thomas Edison)").getBytes(); String hexEncoded = utils.hexEncode(bytes); System.out.println(hexEncoded); // Hex Decode String decoded = new String(utils.hexDecode(hexEncoded)); System.out.println(decoded);

Property List

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


multipart_part_count	The number of records in the MultipartPart arrays.
multipart_part_content_description	Provides a description for the part ( Content-Description header property).
multipart_part_content_disposition	Specifies the disposition of the part ( Content-Disposition header property).
multipart_part_content_id	Specifies the ID of the part ( Content-ID header property).
multipart_part_content_transfer_encoding	Specifies the transfer encoding for the part ( Content-Transfer-Encoding header property).
multipart_part_content_type	Specifies the content type of the part ( Content-Type header property).
multipart_part_custom_headers	Assign any custom HTTP headers to be added to the part header.
multipart_part_field_name	Specifies the property name of the form part ( name parameter in Content-Disposition header property).
multipart_part_field_value	Specifies the property value of the form part (the part's content).
multipart_part_file_name	Specifies the filename for the form part ( filename parameter in Content-Disposition header property).
multipart_part_handle	Allows to get or set a 'handle', a unique identifier of the underlying property object.
name_value_pair_count	The number of records in the NameValuePair arrays.
name_value_pair_category	Specifies the string category of the contained value.
name_value_pair_format	Specifies the format (encoding) of the value contained in the Value property.
name_value_pair_name	The name element in a (name, value) pair.
name_value_pair_value	The value element in a (name, value) pair.

Method List

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


add_part_from_bytes	Adds a new part to MultipartMessage from the specified byte array.
add_part_from_file	Adds a new part to MultipartMessage from the specified file.
base64_decode	Decodes a base64 string to a byte array.
base64_encode	Encodes a byte array in base64.
base64_encode_lines	Encodes the Bytes array containing binary data to a multi-line Base64.
config	Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.
date_to_string	Converts a variable of Date type to the respective string representation.
do_action	Performs an additional action.
get_error_description	Returns an error description by an error code.
get_local_dns_name	Returns the DNS name of the local system.
get_local_ip	Returns the primary IP address of the local system.
get_local_ips	Returns a list of local IP addresses.
get_part_to_bytes	Saves the data from the specified part to a byte array.
get_part_to_file	Saves the data from the specified part to a file.
get_remote_ip	Gets the IP address of a remote host.
get_remote_ips	Resolves IP addresses available for a hostname.
get_value_by_name	Returns the value from the (name, value) pair list for the requested name.
hex_decode	Decodes a hex-encoded string into a byte array.
hex_encode	Encodes a byte array to hex string.
index_of_name	Returns the index of the (name, value) pair in the list for the requested Name.
load_multipart_from_bytes	Loads a multipart message from the specified byte array to MultipartMessage .
load_multipart_from_file	Loads a multipart message from the specified file to MultipartMessage .
load_name_value_pairs	Loads a list of (name, value) pairs from a string.
oid_to_string	Converts a binary-encoded ASN.1 OID to its string representation.
remove_name_value_pair	Remove a (name, value) pair by name.
reset	Resets the class settings.
save_multipart_content_type	Returns the value for Content-Type field.
save_multipart_to_bytes	Saves the parts contained in MultipartMessage to a byte array.
save_multipart_to_file	Saves the parts contained in MultipartMessage to the file.
save_name_value_pairs	Serializes the (name, value) pair list to a string.
set_value_by_name	Adds or updates the (name, value) pair by a name.
string_decode	Converts a byte array to a string using a chosen encoding.
string_encode	Encodes a string to a byte array using a chosen character encoding.
string_to_date	Converts a date represented by a string to a respective Date object.
string_to_oid	Converts string OID representation to an ASN.1 byte array.
url_decode	Decodes a URLEncoded string back into its original form.
url_encode	Encodes the provided string using URLEncode.

Event List

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


on_error	Informs about errors during cryptographic operations.
on_notification	This event notifies the application about an underlying control flow event.

Config Settings

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


MaxInMemoryPartSize	The maximal size of a message part to keep in memory.
MultipartBoundary	Returns the boundary string used to save the last multipart message.
MultipartCharset	Specifies the charset to be used to encode the field names and the filenames of the multipart message.
RelatedStart	Identifies the starting body part or root.
RelatedStartInfo	Contains additional information required for unpacking or processing of the content.
RelatedType	Contains media type/subtype of message's content.
TempPath	Path for storing temporary files.
ASN1UseGlobalTagCache	Controls whether ASN.1 module should use a global object cache.
AssignSystemSmartCardPins	Specifies whether CSP-level PINs should be assigned to CNG keys.
CheckKeyIntegrityBeforeUse	Enables or disable private key integrity check before use.
CookieCaching	Specifies whether a cookie cache should be used for HTTP(S) transports.
Cookies	Gets or sets local cookies for the class.
DefDeriveKeyIterations	Specifies the default key derivation algorithm iteration count.
DNSLocalSuffix	The suffix to assign for TLD names.
EnableClientSideSSLFFDHE	Enables or disables finite field DHE key exchange support in TLS clients.
GlobalCookies	Gets or sets global cookies for all the HTTP transports.
HardwareCryptoUsePolicy	The hardware crypto usage policy.
HttpUserAgent	Specifies the user agent name to be used by all HTTP clients.
HttpVersion	The HTTP version to use in any inner HTTP client classes created.
IgnoreExpiredMSCTLSigningCert	Whether to tolerate the expired Windows Update signing certificate.
ListDelimiter	The delimiter character for multi-element lists.
LogDestination	Specifies the debug log destination.
LogDetails	Specifies the debug log details to dump.
LogFile	Specifies the debug log filename.
LogFilters	Specifies the debug log filters.
LogFlushMode	Specifies the log flush mode.
LogLevel	Specifies the debug log level.
LogMaxEventCount	Specifies the maximum number of events to cache before further action is taken.
LogRotationMode	Specifies the log rotation mode.
MaxASN1BufferLength	Specifies the maximal allowed length for ASN.1 primitive tag data.
MaxASN1TreeDepth	Specifies the maximal depth for processed ASN.1 trees.
OCSPHashAlgorithm	Specifies the hash algorithm to be used to identify certificates in OCSP requests.
OldClientSideRSAFallback	Specifies whether the SSH client should use a SHA1 fallback.
PKICache	Specifies which PKI elements (certificates, CRLs, OCSP responses) should be cached.
PKICachePath	Specifies the file system path where cached PKI data is stored.
ProductVersion	Returns the version of the SecureBlackbox library.
ServerSSLDHKeyLength	Sets the size of the TLS DHE key exchange group.
StaticDNS	Specifies whether static DNS rules should be used.
StaticIPAddress[domain]	Gets or sets an IP address for the specified domain name.
StaticIPAddresses	Gets or sets all the static DNS rules.
Tag	Allows to store any custom data.
TLSSessionGroup	Specifies the group name of TLS sessions to be used for session resumption.
TLSSessionLifetime	Specifies lifetime in seconds of the cached TLS session.
TLSSessionPurgeInterval	Specifies how often the session cache should remove the expired TLS sessions.
UseCRLObjectCaching	Specifies whether reuse of loaded CRL objects is enabled.
UseInternalRandom	Switches between SecureBlackbox-own and platform PRNGs.
UseLegacyAdESValidation	Enables legacy AdES validation mode.
UseOCSPResponseObjectCaching	Specifies whether reuse of loaded OCSP response objects is enabled.
UseOwnDNSResolver	Specifies whether the client classes should use own DNS resolver.
UseSharedSystemStorages	Specifies whether the validation engine should use a global per-process copy of the system certificate stores.
UseSystemNativeSizeCalculation	An internal CryptoAPI access tweak.
UseSystemOAEPAndPSS	Enforces or disables the use of system-driven RSA OAEP and PSS computations.
UseSystemRandom	Enables or disables the use of the OS PRNG.
XMLRDNDescriptorName[OID]	Defines an OID mapping to descriptor names for the certificate's IssuerRDN or SubjectRDN.
XMLRDNDescriptorPriority[OID]	Specifies the priority of descriptor names associated with a specific OID.
XMLRDNDescriptorReverseOrder	Specifies whether to reverse the order of descriptors in RDN.
XMLRDNDescriptorSeparator	Specifies the separator used between descriptors in RDN.

multipart_part_count Property

The number of records in the MultipartPart arrays.

Syntax

def get_multipart_part_count() -> int: ...
def set_multipart_part_count(value: int) -> None: ...

multipart_part_count = property(get_multipart_part_count, set_multipart_part_count)

Default Value

Remarks

This property controls the size of the following arrays:

multipart_part_content_description
multipart_part_content_disposition
multipart_part_content_id
multipart_part_content_transfer_encoding
multipart_part_content_type
multipart_part_custom_headers
multipart_part_field_name
multipart_part_field_value
multipart_part_file_name
multipart_part_handle

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

multipart_part_content_description Property

Provides a description for the part ( Content-Description header property).

Syntax

def get_multipart_part_content_description(multipart_part_index: int) -> str: ...
def set_multipart_part_content_description(multipart_part_index: int, value: str) -> None: ...

Default Value

Remarks

Provides a description for the part (Content-Description header field)

The multipart_part_index parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the multipart_part_count property.

multipart_part_content_disposition Property

Specifies the disposition of the part ( Content-Disposition header property).

Syntax

def get_multipart_part_content_disposition(multipart_part_index: int) -> str: ...
def set_multipart_part_content_disposition(multipart_part_index: int, value: str) -> None: ...

Default Value

Remarks

Specifies the disposition of the part (Content-Disposition header field)

The multipart_part_index parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the multipart_part_count property.

multipart_part_content_id Property

Specifies the ID of the part ( Content-ID header property).

Syntax

def get_multipart_part_content_id(multipart_part_index: int) -> str: ...
def set_multipart_part_content_id(multipart_part_index: int, value: str) -> None: ...

Default Value

Remarks

Specifies the ID of the part (Content-ID header field)

The multipart_part_index parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the multipart_part_count property.

multipart_part_content_transfer_encoding Property

Specifies the transfer encoding for the part ( Content-Transfer-Encoding header property).

Syntax

def get_multipart_part_content_transfer_encoding(multipart_part_index: int) -> str: ...
def set_multipart_part_content_transfer_encoding(multipart_part_index: int, value: str) -> None: ...

Default Value

Remarks

Specifies the transfer encoding for the part (Content-Transfer-Encoding header field)

The multipart_part_index parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the multipart_part_count property.

multipart_part_content_type Property

Specifies the content type of the part ( Content-Type header property).

Syntax

def get_multipart_part_content_type(multipart_part_index: int) -> str: ...
def set_multipart_part_content_type(multipart_part_index: int, value: str) -> None: ...

Default Value

Remarks

Specifies the content type of the part (Content-Type header field)

The multipart_part_index parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the multipart_part_count property.

multipart_part_custom_headers Property

Assign any custom HTTP headers to be added to the part header.

Syntax

def get_multipart_part_custom_headers(multipart_part_index: int) -> str: ...
def set_multipart_part_custom_headers(multipart_part_index: int, value: str) -> None: ...

Default Value

Remarks

Assign any custom HTTP headers to be added to the part header.

The multipart_part_index parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the multipart_part_count property.

multipart_part_field_name Property

Specifies the property name of the form part ( name parameter in Content-Disposition header property).

Syntax

def get_multipart_part_field_name(multipart_part_index: int) -> str: ...
def set_multipart_part_field_name(multipart_part_index: int, value: str) -> None: ...

Default Value

Remarks

Specifies the field name of the form part (name parameter in Content-Disposition header field).

The multipart_part_index parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the multipart_part_count property.

multipart_part_field_value Property

Specifies the property value of the form part (the part's content).

Syntax

def get_multipart_part_field_value(multipart_part_index: int) -> str: ...
def set_multipart_part_field_value(multipart_part_index: int, value: str) -> None: ...

Default Value

Remarks

Specifies the field value of the form part (the part's content).

The multipart_part_index parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the multipart_part_count property.

multipart_part_file_name Property

Specifies the filename for the form part ( filename parameter in Content-Disposition header property).

Syntax

def get_multipart_part_file_name(multipart_part_index: int) -> str: ...
def set_multipart_part_file_name(multipart_part_index: int, value: str) -> None: ...

Default Value

Remarks

Specifies the filename for the form part (filename parameter in Content-Disposition header field).

The multipart_part_index parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the multipart_part_count property.

multipart_part_handle Property

Allows to get or set a 'handle', a unique identifier of the underlying property object.

Syntax

def get_multipart_part_handle(multipart_part_index: int) -> int: ...
def set_multipart_part_handle(multipart_part_index: int, value: int) -> None: ...

Default Value

Remarks

Allows to get or set a 'handle', a unique identifier of the underlying property object. Use this property to assign objects of the same type in a quicker manner, without copying them fieldwise.

When you pass a handle of one object to another, the source object is copied to the destination rather than assigned. It is safe to get rid of the original object after such operation. pdfSigner.setSigningCertHandle(certMgr.getCertHandle());

The multipart_part_index parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the multipart_part_count property.

name_value_pair_count Property

The number of records in the NameValuePair arrays.

Syntax

def get_name_value_pair_count() -> int: ...
def set_name_value_pair_count(value: int) -> None: ...

name_value_pair_count = property(get_name_value_pair_count, set_name_value_pair_count)

Default Value

Remarks

This property controls the size of the following arrays:

name_value_pair_category
name_value_pair_format
name_value_pair_name
name_value_pair_value

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

name_value_pair_category Property

Specifies the string category of the contained value.

Syntax

def get_name_value_pair_category(name_value_pair_index: int) -> str: ...
def set_name_value_pair_category(name_value_pair_index: int, value: str) -> None: ...

Default Value

Remarks

Specifies the string category of the contained value.

This property allows to check or set the category (or type) associated with the contained value. Depending on the format used to load or save the string, the category parameter may or may not be used.

For example, for ASN.1 property lists the category contains the ASN.1 tag of the contained data (OCTETSTRING, UTF8STRING, INTEGER, ...). For basic (name, value) pairs, such as HTTP headers, the category parameter is not used.

The name_value_pair_index parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the name_value_pair_count property.

name_value_pair_format Property

Specifies the format (encoding) of the value contained in the Value property.

Syntax

def get_name_value_pair_format(name_value_pair_index: int) -> int: ...
def set_name_value_pair_format(name_value_pair_index: int, value: int) -> None: ...

Default Value

Remarks

Specifies the format (encoding) of the value contained in the name_value_pair_value property.

Use this property to check or set the format of the contained value. Remember to provide the actual value in the appropriate format that matches this setting: utils.NameValuePairs[0].Name = "key"; utils.NameValuePairs[0].Format = svfBinary; utils.NameValuePairs[0].Name = "0a1b2c3d4e5f6071";

The following formats are currently supported:


svfText	`0`	The property contains text
svfBinary	`1`	The property contains binary data. The Value property contains a hex encoding of it.

The name_value_pair_index parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the name_value_pair_count property.

name_value_pair_name Property

The name element in a (name, value) pair.

Syntax

def get_name_value_pair_name(name_value_pair_index: int) -> str: ...
def set_name_value_pair_name(name_value_pair_index: int, value: str) -> None: ...

Default Value

Remarks

The name element in a (name, value) pair.

The name_value_pair_index parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the name_value_pair_count property.

name_value_pair_value Property

The value element in a (name, value) pair.

Syntax

def get_name_value_pair_value(name_value_pair_index: int) -> str: ...
def set_name_value_pair_value(name_value_pair_index: int, value: str) -> None: ...

Default Value

Remarks

The value element in a (name, value) pair.

The name_value_pair_index parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the name_value_pair_count property.

add_part_from_bytes Method

Adds a new part to MultipartMessage from the specified byte array.

Syntax

def add_part_from_bytes(data: bytes) -> int: ...

Remarks

The method adds a new part to multipart_message list with the specified data as the part's content.

Returns the index of the added part.

add_part_from_file Method

Adds a new part to MultipartMessage from the specified file.

Syntax

def add_part_from_file(file_name: str) -> int: ...

Remarks

The method adds a new part to multipart_message list with the specified file data as the part's content.

Returns the index of the added part.

base64_decode Method

Decodes a base64 string to a byte array.

Syntax

def base64_decode(value: str, use_url_encoding: bool) -> bytes: ...

Remarks

Use this method to decode a base64-encoded string to a byte array. The UseURLEncoding parameter specifies whether the URL-Base64 modification should be used when decoding the string. byte[] arr = utils.Base64Decode("SGVsbG8sIHdvcmxkIQ==", false);

base64_encode Method

Encodes a byte array in base64.

Syntax

def base64_encode(bytes: bytes, use_url_encoding: bool) -> str: ...

Remarks

Use this method to encode binary data contained in Bytes to a base64 string. The UseURLEncoding parameter specifies whether additional URL encoding should be applied to the resulting string (with + and / characters replaced with - and _, respectively). string encoded = utils.Base64Encode(buf, false);

base64_encode_lines Method

Encodes the Bytes array containing binary data to a multi-line Base64.

Syntax

def base64_encode_lines(bytes: bytes, line_len: int) -> str: ...

Remarks

Use this method to encode large amounts of binary data to multi-line base64 strings. Use LineLen parameter to provide the maximal length of each base64 line.

config Method

Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.

Syntax

def config(configuration_string: str) -> str: ...

Remarks

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

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

date_to_string Method

Converts a variable of Date type to the respective string representation.

Syntax

def date_to_string(value: datetime.datetime) -> str: ...

Remarks

Use this method to convert a value of a platform date type to a string representation accepted by various SecureBlackbox methods and properties.

do_action Method

Performs an additional action.

Syntax

def do_action(action_id: str, action_params: str) -> str: ...

Remarks

do_action is a generic method available in every class. 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;....

Common ActionIDs:


Action	Parameters	Returned value	Description
ResetTrustedListCache	none	none	Clears the cached list of trusted lists.
ResetCertificateCache	none	none	Clears the cached certificates.
ResetCRLCache	none	none	Clears the cached CRLs.
ResetOCSPResponseCache	none	none	Clears the cached OCSP responses.

get_error_description Method

Returns an error description by an error code.

Syntax

def get_error_description(error_code: int) -> str: ...

Remarks

Use this method to get a human readable description of an error by its code. Returns an empty string if the error code is not recognized.

get_local_dns_name Method

Returns the DNS name of the local system.

Syntax

def get_local_dns_name() -> str: ...

Remarks

Use this property to get the registered DNS or network name of the local system.

get_local_ip Method

Returns the primary IP address of the local system.

Syntax

def get_local_ip(ipv6: bool) -> str: ...

Remarks

Use this method to obtain the default IP address of the local system.

get_local_ips Method

Returns a list of local IP addresses.

Syntax

def get_local_ips(ipv4: bool, ipv6: bool) -> str: ...

Remarks

Use this method to request a list of all local IP addresses available in the system. Set IPv4 and IPv6 as required to filter IPv4 and IPv6 interfaces in or out respectively.

get_part_to_bytes Method

Saves the data from the specified part to a byte array.

Syntax

def get_part_to_bytes(index: int) -> bytes: ...

Remarks

Use this method to store the data of the specified part to a byte array.

Index must be greater than or equal to 0, and less than the part count.

get_part_to_file Method

Saves the data from the specified part to a file.

Syntax

def get_part_to_file(index: int, file_name: str) -> None: ...

Remarks

Use this method to store the data of the specified part to a file.

Index must be greater than or equal to 0, and less than the part count.

get_remote_ip Method

Gets the IP address of a remote host.

Syntax

def get_remote_ip(host_name: str, ipv6: bool, dns_mode: int, dns_servers: str, timeout: int) -> str: ...

Remarks

Use this property to resolve the address of a remote host using the provided DNS settings. Set IPv6 to true to force resolution of both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

Use the Timeout setting to specify maximal resolution time, and the DNSServer parameter to list the addresses of DNS servers to use for address resolution. Separate individual servers in the list with commas or semicolons. If an empty server list is provided, the component will use the list of servers configured in the system.

Use one of the below DNS modes:


dmAuto	`0`
dmPlatform	`1`
dmOwn	`2`
dmOwnSecure	`3`

get_remote_ips Method

Resolves IP addresses available for a hostname.

Syntax

def get_remote_ips(host_name: str, ipv4: bool, ipv6: bool, dns_mode: int, dns_servers: str, timeout: int) -> str: ...

Remarks

Use this method to resolve all IP addresses available for the chosen hostname using the provided DNS settings. Use the Timeout setting to specify maximal resolution time. The DNSServer parameter lists the addresses of DNS servers to use for address resolution, separated with commas or semicolons. If an empty server list is provided, the component will use the list of servers configured in the system.

Use one of the below DNS modes:


dmAuto	`0`
dmPlatform	`1`
dmOwn	`2`
dmOwnSecure	`3`

get_value_by_name Method

Returns the value from the (name, value) pair list for the requested name.

Syntax

def get_value_by_name(name: str) -> str: ...

Remarks

Use this method to obtain a matching value for the requested Name in the name_value_pairs list.

hex_decode Method

Decodes a hex-encoded string into a byte array.

Syntax

def hex_decode(value: str) -> bytes: ...

Remarks

Use this method to decode hex- (base16-) encoded strings to byte arrays. byte[] buf = utils.HexDecode("48656C6C6F2C20776F726C6421");

hex_encode Method

Encodes a byte array to hex string.

Syntax

def hex_encode(bytes: bytes) -> str: ...

Remarks

Use this method to encode a byte array, passed as Bytes, to a hex (base16) string.

index_of_name Method

Returns the index of the (name, value) pair in the list for the requested Name.

Syntax

def index_of_name(name: str) -> int: ...

Remarks

Use this method to obtain the index of the (Name, Value) object in name_value_pairs list.

load_multipart_from_bytes Method

Loads a multipart message from the specified byte array to MultipartMessage .

Syntax

def load_multipart_from_bytes(content_type: str, data: bytes) -> None: ...

Remarks

Use this method to load a multipart message from a byte array to multipart_message. You need to provide the content of the Content-Type header field together with the multipart body stored in the byte array.

After the data is loaded, you can get the data of each part by calling get_part_to_bytes/get_part_to_file/get_part_to_stream methods.

While loading data, the parts data is stored in temporary files/streams. If the TempPath config property is not empty, the parts data is stored to temporary files in that folder, otherwise the data is stored in memory streams.

load_multipart_from_file Method

Loads a multipart message from the specified file to MultipartMessage .

Syntax

def load_multipart_from_file(content_type: str, file_name: str) -> None: ...

Remarks

Use this method to load a multipart message from a file to multipart_message. You need to provide the content of the Content-Type header field together with the multipart body stored in the file.

After the file is loaded, you can get the data of each part by calling get_part_to_bytes/get_part_to_file/get_part_to_stream methods.

load_name_value_pairs Method

Loads a list of (name, value) pairs from a string.

Syntax

def load_name_value_pairs(data: str, format: str, name_value_separator: str, pair_separator: str, trim_values: bool) -> None: ...

Remarks

Use this method to load a list of (name, value) pairs to name_value_pairs from a string. Provide one of the known formats via Format, and optionally pass the separators using NameValueSeparator and PairSeparator parameters.

The following pre-defined pair list formats are currently supported:

rdn: a textual distinguished name encoding (/C=US/S=NC/O=Big Company)
rdnbinary: a hex-encoded DER encoding of the ASN.1 RelativeDistinguishedName object

If one of these formats is used, the separator parameters are ignored.

oid_to_string Method

Converts a binary-encoded ASN.1 OID to its string representation.

Syntax

def oid_to_string(bytes: bytes) -> str: ...

Remarks

Use this method to convert binary-encoded OIDs (object identifiers) to their dotted string representations. byte[] oid_bin = new byte[] { 0x60, 0x86, 0x48, 0x01, 0x65, 0x03, 0x04, 0x01, 0x06 }; string oid_str = utils.OidToString(oid_bin); Console.WriteLine(oid_str); // prints 2.16.840.1.101.3.4.1.6

remove_name_value_pair Method

Remove a (name, value) pair by name.

Syntax

def remove_name_value_pair(name: str) -> bool: ...

Remarks

Use this method to remove the (Name, Value) pair from the name_value_pairs list.

reset Method

Resets the class settings.

Syntax

def reset() -> None: ...

Remarks

reset is a generic method available in every class.

save_multipart_content_type Method

Returns the value for Content-Type field.

Syntax

def save_multipart_content_type() -> str: ...

Remarks

Call this method to get a value for Content-Type field after calling save_multipart_to_bytes or save_multipart_to_file or save_multipart_to_stream.

save_multipart_to_bytes Method

Saves the parts contained in MultipartMessage to a byte array.

Syntax

def save_multipart_to_bytes(multipart_mode: int) -> bytes: ...

Remarks

Use this method to store multipart_message to a temporary byte array.

Supported values for MultipartMode are:


hmmFormData	`0`	The multipart message contains form data (content type is multipart/form-data)
hmmRelated	`1`	The multipart message contains related parts (content type is multipart/related)

To send the stored data to an HTTP server, follow the steps below:

Call save_multipart_content_type method and assign the returned value to ContentType field of request_parameters> property
Call post_bytes> method and pass the array to it

save_multipart_to_file Method

Saves the parts contained in MultipartMessage to the file.

Syntax

def save_multipart_to_file(multipart_mode: int, file_name: str) -> None: ...

Remarks

Use this method to store multipart_message to a temporary file.

Supported values for MultipartMode are:


hmmFormData	`0`	The multipart message contains form data (content type is multipart/form-data)
hmmRelated	`1`	The multipart message contains related parts (content type is multipart/related)

FileName is the name of the target file for the multipart message.

To send the stored data to an HTTP server, follow the steps below:

Call save_multipart_content_type method and assign the returned value to ContentType field of request_parameters> property
Call post_file> method and pass the filename to it

save_name_value_pairs Method

Serializes the (name, value) pair list to a string.

Syntax

def save_name_value_pairs(format: str, name_value_separator: str, pair_separator: str) -> str: ...

Remarks

Use this method to save the contents of name_value_pairs to a string. Provide the desired format through the Format parameter, and entry separators (if required) via NameValueSeparator and PairSeparator parameters.

The following pre-defined pair list formats are currently supported:

rdn: a textual distinguished name encoding (/C=US/S=NC/O=Big Company)
rdnbinary: a hex-encoded DER encoding of the ASN.1 RelativeDistinguishedName object

If one of these formats is used, the separator parameters are ignored.

set_value_by_name Method

Adds or updates the (name, value) pair by a name.

Syntax

def set_value_by_name(name: str, value: str) -> int: ...

Remarks

This method updates the existing (Name, Value) pair with a new value, or adds a new pair if no such pair existed in name_value_pairs list.

string_decode Method

Converts a byte array to a string using a chosen encoding.

Syntax

def string_decode(bytes: bytes, encoding: str) -> str: ...

Remarks

Use this method to convert a byte array to a string using the required text encoding. The following encodings are currently supported: utf-8, utf16.

Leave Encoding empty to use the default code page configured in the system.

string_encode Method

Encodes a string to a byte array using a chosen character encoding.

Syntax

def string_encode(value: str, encoding: str) -> bytes: ...

Remarks

Use this method to convert a string to a byte array using the provided text encoding. The following encodings are currently supported: utf-8, utf16.

Leave Encoding empty to use the default code page configured in the system.

string_to_date Method

Converts a date represented by a string to a respective Date object.

Syntax

def string_to_date(value: str) -> datetime.datetime: ...

Remarks

Use this method to convert a date string that you obtained from a SecureBlackbox component property or method to a platform date object.

string_to_oid Method

Converts string OID representation to an ASN.1 byte array.

Syntax

def string_to_oid(value: str) -> bytes: ...

Remarks

Use this method to convert an OID represented with a dotted string to the respective ASN.1 representation. string oid_str = "2.16.840.1.101.3.4.1.6"; byte[] oid_buf = utils.StringToOid(oid_str);

url_decode Method

Decodes a URLEncoded string back into its original form.

Syntax

def url_decode(value: str) -> str: ...

Remarks

Use this method to decode the URLEncoded Value back to its original representation.

url_encode Method

Encodes the provided string using URLEncode.

Syntax

def url_encode(value: str) -> str: ...

Remarks

Use this method to encode Value using URL Encoding (percent encoding), as defined in RFC 3986.

on_error Event

Informs about errors during cryptographic operations.

Syntax

class UtilsErrorEventParams(object):
  @property
  def error_code() -> int: ...

  @property
  def description() -> str: ...

# In class Utils:
@property
def on_error() -> Callable[[UtilsErrorEventParams], None]: ...
@on_error.setter
def on_error(event_hook: Callable[[UtilsErrorEventParams], None]) -> None: ...

Remarks

Class fires this event if an error happens during a cryptographic operation.

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

on_notification Event

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

Syntax

class UtilsNotificationEventParams(object):
  @property
  def event_id() -> str: ...

  @property
  def event_param() -> str: ...

# In class Utils:
@property
def on_notification() -> Callable[[UtilsNotificationEventParams], None]: ...
@on_notification.setter
def on_notification(event_hook: Callable[[UtilsNotificationEventParams], None]) -> None: ...

Remarks

The class fires this event to let the application know about some event, occurrence, or milestone in the class. 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 class, the exact action it is performing, or the document being processed, one or both may be omitted.

Utils Config Settings

The class 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 class, access to these internal properties is provided through the config method.

Utils Config Settings

MaxInMemoryPartSize: The maximal size of a message part to keep in memory.

If the message part exceeds this size (which is set to 100KB by default), a temporary file will be created to keep it.

MultipartBoundary: Returns the boundary string used to save the last multipart message.

MultipartCharset: Specifies the charset to be used to encode the field names and the filenames of the multipart message.

RelatedStart: Identifies the starting body part or root.

Provides the starting body part or root for multipart messages transferred over HTTP.

RelatedStartInfo: Contains additional information required for unpacking or processing of the content.

Provides additional information for unpacking or processing of the content in multipart messages transferred over HTTP.

RelatedType: Contains media type/subtype of message's content.

Provides the media type/subtype of message's content in multipart messages transferred over HTTP.

TempPath: Path for storing temporary files.

This setting specifies an absolute path to the location on disk where temporary files are stored.

Base Config Settings

ASN1UseGlobalTagCache: Controls whether ASN.1 module should use a global object cache.

This is a performance setting. It is unlikely that you will ever need to adjust it.

AssignSystemSmartCardPins: Specifies whether CSP-level PINs should be assigned to CNG keys.

This is a low-level tweak for certain cryptographic providers. It is unlikely that you will ever need to adjust it.

CheckKeyIntegrityBeforeUse: Enables or disable private key integrity check before use.

This global property enables or disables private key material check before each signing operation. This slows down performance a bit, but prevents a selection of attacks on RSA keys where keys with unknown origins are used.

You can switch this property off to improve performance if your project only uses known, good private keys.

CookieCaching: Specifies whether a cookie cache should be used for HTTP(S) transports.

Set this property to enable or disable cookies caching for the class.

Supported values are:


off		No caching (default)
local		Local caching
global		Global caching

Cookies: Gets or sets local cookies for the class.

Use this property to get cookies from the internal cookie storage of the class and/or restore them back between application sessions.

DefDeriveKeyIterations: Specifies the default key derivation algorithm iteration count.

This global property sets the default number of iterations for all supported key derivation algorithms. Note that you can provide the required number of iterations by using properties of the relevant key generation component; this global setting is used in scenarios where specific iteration count is not or cannot be provided.

DNSLocalSuffix: The suffix to assign for TLD names.

Use this global setting to adjust the default suffix to assign to top-level domain names. The default is .local.

EnableClientSideSSLFFDHE: Enables or disables finite field DHE key exchange support in TLS clients.

This global property enables or disables support for finite field DHE key exchange methods in TLS clients. FF DHE is a slower algorithm if compared to EC DHE; enabling it may result in slower connections.

This setting only applies to sessions negotiated with TLS version 1.3.

GlobalCookies: Gets or sets global cookies for all the HTTP transports.

Use this property to get cookies from the GLOBAL cookie storage or restore them back between application sessions. These cookies will be used by all the classes that have its CookieCaching property set to "global".

HardwareCryptoUsePolicy: The hardware crypto usage policy.

This global setting controls the hardware cryptography usage policy: auto, enable, or disable.

HttpUserAgent: Specifies the user agent name to be used by all HTTP clients.

This global setting defines the User-Agent field of the HTTP request provides information about the software that initiates the request. This value will be used by all the HTTP clients including the ones used internally in other classes.

HttpVersion: The HTTP version to use in any inner HTTP client components created.

Set this property to 1.0 or 1.1 to indicate the HTTP version that any internal HTTP clients should use.

IgnoreExpiredMSCTLSigningCert: Whether to tolerate the expired Windows Update signing certificate.

It is not uncommon for Microsoft Windows Update Certificate Trust List to be signed with an expired Microsoft certificate. Setting this global property to true makes SBB ignore the expired factor and take the Trust List into account.

ListDelimiter: The delimiter character for multi-element lists.

Allows to set the delimiter for any multi-entry values returned by the component as a string object, such as file lists. For most of the components, this property is set to a newline sequence.

LogDestination: Specifies the debug log destination.

Contains a comma-separated list of values that specifies where debug log should be dumped.

Supported values are:


file		File
console		Console
systemlog		System Log (supported for Android only)
debugger		Debugger (supported for VCL for Windows and .Net)

LogDetails: Specifies the debug log details to dump.

Contains a comma-separated list of values that specifies which debug log details to dump.

Supported values are:


time		Current time
level		Level
package		Package name
module		Module name
class		Class name
method		Method name
threadid		Thread Id
contenttype		Content type
content		Content
all		All details

LogFile: Specifies the debug log filename.

Use this property to provide a path to the log file.

LogFilters: Specifies the debug log filters.

Contains a comma-separated list of value pairs ("name:value") that describe filters.

Supported filter names are:


exclude-package		Exclude a package specified in the value
exclude-module		Exclude a module specified in the value
exclude-class		Exclude a class specified in the value
exclude-method		Exclude a method specified in the value
include-package		Include a package specified in the value
include-module		Include a module specified in the value
include-class		Include a class specified in the value
include-method		Include a method specified in the value

LogFlushMode: Specifies the log flush mode.

Use this property to set the log flush mode. The following values are defined:


none		No flush (caching only)
immediate		Immediate flush (real-time logging)
maxcount		Flush cached entries upon reaching LogMaxEventCount entries in the cache.

LogLevel: Specifies the debug log level.

Use this property to provide the desired debug log level.

Supported values are:


none		None (by default)
fatal		Severe errors that cause premature termination.
error		Other runtime errors or unexpected conditions.
warning		Use of deprecated APIs, poor use of API, 'almost' errors, other runtime situations that are undesirable or unexpected, but not necessarily "wrong".
info		Interesting runtime events (startup/shutdown).
debug		Detailed information on flow of through the system.
trace		More detailed information.

LogMaxEventCount: Specifies the maximum number of events to cache before further action is taken.

Use this property to specify the log event number threshold. This threshold may have different effects, depending on the rotation setting and/or the flush mode.

The default value of this setting is 100.

LogRotationMode: Specifies the log rotation mode.

Use this property to set the log rotation mode. The following values are defined:


none		No rotation
deleteolder		Delete older entries from the cache upon reaching LogMaxEventCount
keepolder		Keep older entries in the cache upon reaching LogMaxEventCount (newer entries are discarded)

MaxASN1BufferLength: Specifies the maximal allowed length for ASN.1 primitive tag data.

This global property limits the maximal allowed length for ASN.1 tag data for non-content-carrying structures, such as certificates, CRLs, or timestamps. It does not affect structures that can carry content, such as CMS/CAdES messages. This is a security property aiming at preventing DoS attacks.

MaxASN1TreeDepth: Specifies the maximal depth for processed ASN.1 trees.

This global property limits the maximal depth of ASN.1 trees that the component can handle without throwing an error. This is a security property aiming at preventing DoS attacks.

OCSPHashAlgorithm: Specifies the hash algorithm to be used to identify certificates in OCSP requests.

This global setting defines the hash algorithm to use in OCSP requests during chain validation. Some OCSP responders can only use older algorithms, in which case setting this property to SHA1 may be helpful.

OldClientSideRSAFallback: Specifies whether the SSH client should use a SHA1 fallback.

Tells the SSH client to use a legacy ssh-rsa authentication even if the server indicates support for newer algorithms, such as rsa-sha-256. This is a backward-compatibility tweak.

PKICache: Specifies which PKI elements (certificates, CRLs, OCSP responses) should be cached.

The PKICache setting specifies which Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) elements should be cached to optimize performance and reduce retrieval times. It supports comma-separated values to indicate the specific types of PKI data that should be cached.

Supported Values:


certificate	Enables caching of certificates.
crl	Enables caching of Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs).
ocsp	Enables caching of OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol) responses.

Example (default value): PKICache=certificate,crl,ocsp In this example, the component caches certificates, CRLs, and OCSP responses.

PKICachePath: Specifies the file system path where cached PKI data is stored.

The PKICachePath setting defines the file system path where cached PKI data (e.g., certificates, CRLs, OCSP responses and Trusted Lists) will be stored. This allows the system to persistently save and retrieve PKI cache data, even across application restarts.

The default value is an empty string - no cached PKI data is stored on disk.

Example: PKICachePath=C:\Temp\cache In this example, the cached PKI data is stored in the C:\Temp\cache directory.

ProductVersion: Returns the version of the SecureBlackbox library.

This property returns the long version string of the SecureBlackbox library being used (major.minor.build.revision).

ServerSSLDHKeyLength: Sets the size of the TLS DHE key exchange group.

Use this property to adjust the length, in bits, of the DHE prime to be used by the TLS server.

StaticDNS: Specifies whether static DNS rules should be used.

Set this property to enable or disable static DNS rules for the class. Works only if UseOwnDNSResolver is set to true.

Supported values are:


none		No static DNS rules (default)
local		Local static DNS rules
global		Global static DNS rules

StaticIPAddress[domain]: Gets or sets an IP address for the specified domain name.

Use this property to get or set an IP address for the specified domain name in the internal (of the class) or global DNS rules storage depending on the StaticDNS value. The type of the IP address (IPv4 or IPv6) is determined automatically. If both addresses are available, they are devided by the | (pipe) character.

StaticIPAddresses: Gets or sets all the static DNS rules.

Use this property to get static DNS rules from the current rules storage or restore them back between application sessions. If StaticDNS of the class is set to "local", the property returns/restores the rules from/to the internal storage of the class. If StaticDNS of the class is set to "global", the property returns/restores the rules from/to the GLOBAL storage. The rules list is returned and accepted in JSON format.

Tag: Allows to store any custom data.

Use this config property to store any custom data.

TLSSessionGroup: Specifies the group name of TLS sessions to be used for session resumption.

Use this property to limit the search of chached TLS sessions to the specified group. Sessions from other groups will be ignored. By default, all sessions are cached with an empty group name and available to all the classes.

TLSSessionLifetime: Specifies lifetime in seconds of the cached TLS session.

Use this property to specify how much time the TLS session should be kept in the session cache. After this time, the session expires and will be automatically removed from the cache. Default value is 300 seconds (5 minutes).

TLSSessionPurgeInterval: Specifies how often the session cache should remove the expired TLS sessions.

Use this property to specify the time interval of purging the expired TLS sessions from the session cache. Default value is 60 seconds (1 minute).

UseCRLObjectCaching: Specifies whether reuse of loaded CRL objects is enabled.

This setting enables or disables the caching of CRL objects. When set to true (the default value), the system checks if a CRL object is already loaded in memory before attempting to load a new instance. If the object is found, the existing instance is reused, and its reference count is incremented to track its usage. When the reference count reaches zero, indicating that no references to the object remain, the system will free the object from memory. This setting enhances performance by minimizing unnecessary object instantiation and promotes efficient memory management, particularly in scenarios where CRL objects are frequently used.

UseInternalRandom: Switches between SecureBlackbox-own and platform PRNGs.

Allows to switch between internal/native PRNG implementation and the one provided by the platform.

UseLegacyAdESValidation: Enables legacy AdES validation mode.

Use this setting to switch the AdES component to the validation approach that was used in SBB 2020/SBB 2022 (less attention to temporal details).

UseOCSPResponseObjectCaching: Specifies whether reuse of loaded OCSP response objects is enabled.

This setting enables or disables the caching of OCSP response objects. When set to true (the default value), the system checks if a OCSP response object is already loaded in memory before attempting to load a new instance. If the object is found, the existing instance is reused, and its reference count is incremented to track its usage. When the reference count reaches zero, indicating that no references to the object remain, the system will free the object from memory. This setting enhances performance by minimizing unnecessary object instantiation and promotes efficient memory management, particularly in scenarios where OCSP response objects are frequently used.

UseOwnDNSResolver: Specifies whether the client components should use own DNS resolver.

Set this global property to false to force all the client components to use the DNS resolver provided by the target OS instead of using own one.

UseSharedSystemStorages: Specifies whether the validation engine should use a global per-process copy of the system certificate stores.

Set this global property to false to make each validation run use its own copy of system certificate stores.

UseSystemNativeSizeCalculation: An internal CryptoAPI access tweak.

This is an internal setting. Please do not use it unless instructed by the support team.

UseSystemOAEPAndPSS: Enforces or disables the use of system-driven RSA OAEP and PSS computations.

This global setting defines who is responsible for performing RSA-OAEP and RSA-PSS computations where the private key is stored in a Windows system store and is exportable. If set to true, SBB will delegate the computations to Windows via a CryptoAPI call. Otherwise, it will export the key material and perform the computations using its own OAEP/PSS implementation.

This setting only applies to certificates originating from a Windows system store.

UseSystemRandom: Enables or disables the use of the OS PRNG.

Use this global property to enable or disable the use of operating system-driven pseudorandom number generation.

XMLRDNDescriptorName[OID]: Defines an OID mapping to descriptor names for the certificate's IssuerRDN or SubjectRDN.

This property defines custom mappings between Object Identifiers (OIDs) and descriptor names. This mapping specifies how the certificate's issuer and subject information (ds:IssuerRDN and ds:SubjectRDN elements respectively) are represented in XML signatures.

The property accepts comma-separated values where the first descriptor name is used when the OID is mapped, and subsequent values act as aliases for parsing.

Syntax: Config("XMLRDNDescriptorName[OID]=PrimaryName,Alias1,Alias2");

Where:

OID: The Object Identifier from the certificate's IssuerRDN or SubjectRDN that you want to map.

PrimaryName: The main descriptor name used in the XML signature when the OID is encountered.

Alias1, Alias2, ...: Optional alternative names recognized during parsing.

Usage Examples:

Map OID 2.5.4.5 to SERIALNUMBER: Config("XMLRDNDescriptorName[2.5.4.5]=SERIALNUMBER");

Map OID 1.2.840.113549.1.9.1 to E, with aliases EMAIL and EMAILADDRESS: Config("XMLRDNDescriptorName[1.2.840.113549.1.9.1]=E,EMAIL,EMAILADDRESS");

XMLRDNDescriptorPriority[OID]: Specifies the priority of descriptor names associated with a specific OID.

This property specifies the priority of descriptor names associated with a specific OID that allows to reorder descriptors in the ds:IssuerRDN and ds:SubjectRDN elements during signing.

XMLRDNDescriptorReverseOrder: Specifies whether to reverse the order of descriptors in RDN.

Specifies whether to reverse the order of descriptors in the ds:IssuerRDN and ds:SubjectRDN elements during XML signing. By default, this property is set to true (as specified in RFC 2253, 2.1).

XMLRDNDescriptorSeparator: Specifies the separator used between descriptors in RDN.

Specifies the separator used between descriptors in the ds:IssuerRDN and ds:SubjectRDN elements during XML signing. By default, this property is set to ", " value.

Utils Errors

1048577	Invalid parameter (`SB_ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER`)
1048578	Invalid configuration (`SB_ERROR_INVALID_SETUP`)
1048579	Invalid state (`SB_ERROR_INVALID_STATE`)
1048580	Invalid value (`SB_ERROR_INVALID_VALUE`)
1048581	Private key not found (`SB_ERROR_NO_PRIVATE_KEY`)
1048582	Cancelled by the user (`SB_ERROR_CANCELLED_BY_USER`)
1048583	The file was not found (`SB_ERROR_NO_SUCH_FILE`)
1048584	Unsupported feature or operation (`SB_ERROR_UNSUPPORTED_FEATURE`)
1048585	General error (`SB_ERROR_GENERAL_ERROR`)