Asn Lua Reference Documentation
chilkat.Asn
Current Version: 11.7.0
Markdown version of this page for AI tools (v 11.7.0) · all AI docs
Chilkat.Asn
Load ASN.1 from binary DER bytes, encoded text such as Base64 or hex,
files, or existing
Read the item tag, tag value, constructed/primitive state, sub-item
count, string content, boolean value, or integer value.
Append constructed
Add booleans, integers, big integers, bit strings, octet strings, OIDs,
strings, times, null values, and encoded byte content.
Add context-specific primitive or constructed items when working with
ASN.1 formats that use tagged application-specific structures.
Convert ASN.1 to XML for inspection or editing, load ASN.1 back from XML,
and output the result as binary or encoded DER.
Load, inspect, build, edit, and encode ASN.1 structures in DER or XML form.
Chilkat.Asn represents an ASN.1 item and its optional child
items. It can load ASN.1 from binary DER, encoded DER strings, files, or
BinData; expose tags, tag values, primitive content, boolean
and integer values, and child counts; build constructed structures such as
SEQUENCE and SET; append common primitive types
such as booleans, integers, big integers, bit strings, octets, OIDs, strings,
times, null values, and context-specific items; convert ASN.1 to XML; reload
from that XML form; and write the final structure back to DER.
Load DER data
BinData objects.
Inspect ASN.1 items
Build sequences and sets
SEQUENCE and SET items,
then add child ASN.1 values beneath them.
Append primitive values
Context-specific tags
DER and XML conversion
LoadBinary, LoadEncoded,
LoadBd, or LoadBinaryFile, inspect the tree with
Tag, Constructed, NumSubItems, and
GetSubItem, then extract primitive content or convert to XML
with AsnToXml. To create ASN.1, start with a constructed item,
append child values, and write the final DER with GetBinaryDer,
GetEncodedDer, WriteBd, or
WriteBinaryDer.
Object Creation
local chilkat = require("chilkat")
local asn = chilkat.Asn.new()Creates the object (chilkat.Asn() does the same). Lua's garbage collector frees it when it is no longer referenced; asn:dispose() frees it at once, and in Lua 5.4 and later local asn <close> = chilkat.Asn.new() frees it when the block ends. Calling a method of a disposed object raises an error.
Errors
A method that fails returns nil followed by the error text, as io.open does: local body, err = asn:method(...), where err is the object's last_error_text. Wrap the call in assert() to raise an error with that text instead. Methods that answer a question return true or false, numbers are returned as they are (check last_method_success where the description says a value means failure), and property reads and writes never fail for Chilkat reasons.
Misuse raises a Lua error: a wrong argument type or a missing argument (bad argument #1 to ...), an unknown property name, a write to a read-only property, an out-of-range integer, or an object of the wrong class.
Names are Chilkat's in snake_case: QuickGetStr is quick_get_str, LastErrorText is last_error_text. Properties are fields (asn.verbose_logging = true) and methods use the colon (asn:method(...)). Strings are UTF-8; binary data is a Lua string of bytes. Indexes are 0-based, as in every Chilkat API. Unlocking: call chilkat.unlock_bundle("...") once at startup.
Properties
BoolValue
local boolVal = asn.bool_value
asn.bool_value = boolVal
The ASN.1 item's boolean value if it is a boolean item.
topConstructed
local boolVal = asn.constructed
true if this ASN.1 item is a constructed item. Sequence and Set items are constructed and can contain sub-items. All other tags (boolean, integer, octets, utf8String, etc.) are primitive (non-constructed).
ContentStr
local strVal = asn.content_str
asn.content_str = strVal
The ASN.1 item's content if it is an ASN.1 string type (such as Utf8String, BmpString, PrintableString, VisibleString, T61String, IA5String, NumericString, or UniversalString).
topDebugLogFilePath
local strVal = asn.debug_log_file_path
asn.debug_log_file_path = strVal
If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. This logging helps identify the context and history of Chilkat calls leading up to any crash or hang, aiding in debugging.
Enabling the VerboseLogging property provides more detailed information. This property is mainly used for debugging rare instances where a Chilkat method call causes a hang or crash, which should generally not happen.
Possible causes of hangs include:
- A timeout property set to 0, indicating an infinite timeout.
- A hang occurring within an event callback in the application code.
- An internal bug in the Chilkat code causing the hang.
IntValue
local intVal = asn.int_value
asn.int_value = intVal
The ASN.1 item's integer value if it is a small integer item.
topLastErrorHtml
local strVal = asn.last_error_html
Provides HTML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
topLastErrorText
local strVal = asn.last_error_text
Provides plain text information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
LastErrorXml
local strVal = asn.last_error_xml
Provides XML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
topLastMethodSuccess
local boolVal = asn.last_method_success
asn.last_method_success = boolVal
Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: true means success, false means failure. This property remains unchanged by property setters or getters. This method is present to address challenges in checking for null or Nothing returns in certain programming languages. Note: This property does not apply to methods that return integer values or to boolean-returning methods where the boolean does not indicate success or failure.
NumSubItems
local intVal = asn.num_sub_items
The number of sub-items contained within this ASN.1 item. Only constructed items, such as Sequence and Set will contain sub-iitems. Primitive items such as OIDs, octet strings, integers, etc. will never contain sub-items.
topTag
local strVal = asn.tag
The ASN.1 item's tag as a descriptive string. Possible values are:
boolean integer bitString octets null oid utf8String relativeOid sequence set numericString printableString t61String ia5String utcTime bmpStringtop
TagValue
local intVal = asn.tag_value
The ASN.1 item's tag as a integer value. The integer values for possible tags are as follows:
boolean (1) integer (2) bitString (3) octets (4) null (5) oid (6) utf8String (12) relativeOid (13) sequence (16) set (17) numericString (18) printableString (19) t61String (20) ia5String (22) utcTime (23) bmpString (30)top
VerboseLogging
local boolVal = asn.verbose_logging
asn.verbose_logging = boolVal
If set to true, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is false. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.
Version
local strVal = asn.version
Methods
AppendBigInt
-- encoding is a string
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = asn:append_big_int(encoded_bytes, encoding)
Appends an ASN.1 integer, but one that is a big (huge) integer that is too large to be represented by an integer variable. The bytes composing the integer are passed in encoded string format (such as base64, hex, etc.). The byte order must be big-endian. The encoding may be any of the following encodings: Base64, Hex, Base58, modBase64, Base32, UU, QP (for quoted-printable), URL (for url-encoding), Q, B, url_oath, url_rfc1738, url_rfc2396, and url_rfc3986. The encoding name is case insensitive (for example, both Base64 and base64 are treated the same).
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
AppendBits
-- encoding is a string
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = asn:append_bits(encoded_bytes, encoding)
Appends an ASN.1 bit string to the caller's sub-items. The bytes containing the bits are passed in encoded string format (such as base64, hex, etc.). The byte order must be big-endian (MSB first). The encoding may be any of the following encodings: Base64, Hex, Base58, modBase64, Base32, UU, QP (for quoted-printable), URL (for url-encoding), Q, B, url_oath, url_rfc1738, url_rfc2396, and url_rfc3986. The encoding name is case insensitive (for example, both Base64 and base64 are treated the same).
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
AppendBool
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = asn:append_bool(value)
Appends an ASN.1 boolean item to the caller's sub-items. Items may only be appended to constructed data types such as Sequence and Set.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
AppendContextConstructed
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = asn:append_context_constructed(tag)
Appends an ASN.1 context-specific constructed item to the caller's sub-items.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
AppendContextPrimitive
-- encoded_bytes is a string
-- encoding is a string
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = asn:append_context_primitive(tag, encoded_bytes, encoding)
Appends an ASN.1 context-specific primitive item to the caller's sub-items. The bytes are passed in encoded string format (such as base64, hex, etc.). The encoding may be any of the following encodings: Base64, Hex, Base58, modBase64, Base32, UU, QP (for quoted-printable), URL (for url-encoding), Q, B, url_oath, url_rfc1738, url_rfc2396, and url_rfc3986. The encoding name is case insensitive (for example, both Base64 and base64 are treated the same).
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
AppendInt
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = asn:append_int(value)
Appends an ASN.1 integer item to the caller's sub-items. Items may only be appended to constructed data types such as Sequence and Set.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
AppendNull
local ok, err = asn:append_null()
Appends an ASN.1 null item to the caller's sub-items. Items may only be appended to constructed data types such as Sequence and Set.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
AppendOctets
-- encoding is a string
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = asn:append_octets(encoded_bytes, encoding)
Appends an ASN.1 octet string to the caller's sub-items. The bytes are passed in encoded string format (such as base64, hex, etc.). The encoding may be any of the following encodings: Base64, Hex, Base58, modBase64, Base32, UU, QP (for quoted-printable), URL (for url-encoding), Q, B, url_oath, url_rfc1738, url_rfc2396, and url_rfc3986. The encoding name is case insensitive (for example, both Base64 and base64 are treated the same).
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
AppendOid
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = asn:append_oid(oid)
Appends an ASN.1 OID (object identifier) to the caller's sub-items. The OID is passed in string form, such as 1.2.840.113549.1.9.1.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
AppendSequence
local ok, err = asn:append_sequence()
Appends an ASN.1 sequence item to the caller's sub-items.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
AppendSequence2
local ok, err = asn:append_sequence2()
Appends an ASN.1 sequence item to the caller's sub-items, and updates the internal reference to point to the newly appended sequence item.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
AppendSequenceR
local asn2, err = asn:append_sequence_r()
Appends an ASN.1 sequence item to the caller's sub-items, and returns the newly appended sequence item.
Returns a new object, or nil, err on failure (or when nothing is found). The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead. The returned object is independent of this one.
AppendSet
local ok, err = asn:append_set()
Appends an ASN.1 set item to the caller's sub-items.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
AppendSet2
local ok, err = asn:append_set2()
Appends an ASN.1 set item to the caller's sub-items, and updates the internal reference to point to the newly appended set item.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
AppendSetR
local asn2, err = asn:append_set_r()
Appends an ASN.1 set item to the caller's sub-items, and returns the newly appended set item.
Returns a new object, or nil, err on failure (or when nothing is found). The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead. The returned object is independent of this one.
AppendString
-- value is a string
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = asn:append_string(str_type, value)
Appends a string item to the caller's sub-items. The str_type specifies the type of string to be added. It may be utf8, ia5, t61, printable, visible, numeric, universal, or bmp. The value must conform to the ASN.1 restrictions imposed for a given string type. The utf8, bmp, and universal types have no restrictions on what characters are allowed. In general, unless a specific type of string is required, choose the utf8 type.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
AppendTime
-- date_time_str is a string
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = asn:append_time(time_format, date_time_str)
Appends a UTCTime item to the caller's sub-items. The time_format specifies the format of the date_time_str. It should be set to utc. (In the future, this method will be expanded to append GeneralizedTime items by using generalized for time_format.) To append the current date/time, set date_time_str equal to the empty string or the keyword now. Otherwise, the date_time_str should be in the UTC time format YYMMDDhhmm[ss]Z or YYMMDDhhmm[ss](+|-)hhmm.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
AsnToXml
local str, err = asn:asn_to_xml()
Converts ASN.1 to XML and returns the XML string.
Returns the string, or nil, err on failure (or when nothing is found). The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
DeleteSubItem
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = asn:delete_sub_item(index)
Discards the Nth sub-item. (The 1st sub-item is at index 0.)
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
GetEncodedContent
-- str is a string, or nil and err on failure
local str, err = asn:get_encoded_content(encoding)
Returns the content of the ASN.1 item in encoded string form. The encoding may be any of the following encodings: Base64, Hex, Base58, modBase64, Base32, UU, QP (for quoted-printable), URL (for url-encoding), Q, B, url_oath, url_rfc1738, url_rfc2396, and url_rfc3986. The encoding name is case insensitive (for example, both Base64 and base64 are treated the same).
Returns the string, or nil, err on failure (or when nothing is found). The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
GetEncodedDer
-- str is a string, or nil and err on failure
local str, err = asn:get_encoded_der(encoding)
Returns the binary DER in encoded string form. The encoding indicates the encoding and can be base64, hex, uu, quoted-printable, base32, or modbase64.
Returns the string, or nil, err on failure (or when nothing is found). The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
GetLastSubItem
local asn2, err = asn:get_last_sub_item()
Returns the last ASN.1 sub-item. This method can be called immediately after any Append* method to access the appended item.
Returns a new object, or nil, err on failure (or when nothing is found). The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead. The returned object is independent of this one.
GetSubItem
-- asn2 is a chilkat.Asn, or nil and err on failure
local asn2, err = asn:get_sub_item(index)
Returns the Nth ASN.1 sub-item. The 1st sub-item is at index 0.
Returns a new object, or nil, err on failure (or when nothing is found). The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead. The returned object is independent of this one.
LoadAsnXml
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = asn:load_asn_xml(xml_str)
Loads ASN.1 from the XML representation (such as that created by the AsnToXml method).
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
LoadBd
Loads ASN.1 from the binary DER contained in bd.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
LoadBinaryFile
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = asn:load_binary_file(path)
Loads ASN.1 from a binary DER file.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
LoadEncoded
-- encoding is a string
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = asn:load_encoded(asn_content, encoding)
Loads ASN.1 from an encoded string. The encoding can be base64, hex, uu, quoted-printable, base32, or modbase64.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
SetEncodedContent
-- encoding is a string
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = asn:set_encoded_content(encoded_bytes, encoding)
Sets the content of this primitive ASN.1 item. The encoding may be any of the following encodings: Base64, Hex, Base58, modBase64, Base32, UU, QP (for quoted-printable), URL (for url-encoding), Q, B, url_oath, url_rfc1738, url_rfc2396, and url_rfc3986. The encoding name is case insensitive (for example, both Base64 and base64 are treated the same).
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
WriteBd
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = asn:write_bd(bd)
Appends the ASN.1 in binary DER format to bd.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.
WriteBinaryDer
-- ok is true, or nil and err on failure
local ok, err = asn:write_binary_der(path)
Writes the ASN.1 in binary DER form to a file.
Returns true on success, nil, err on failure. The second return value, err, is the object's last_error_text; wrap the call in assert() to raise an error instead.