CkoDsa Objective-C Reference Documentation

CkoDsa

Current Version: 9.5.0.97

The Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) is a United States Federal Government standard or FIPS for digital signatures. It was proposed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in August 1991 for use in their Digital Signature Standard (DSS).

Object Creation

CkoDsa *obj = [[CkoDsa alloc] init];

Properties

DebugLogFilePath
@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *DebugLogFilePath;

If set to a file path, causes each Chilkat method or property call to automatically append it's LastErrorText to the specified log file. The information is appended such that if a hang or crash occurs, it is possible to see the context in which the problem occurred, as well as a history of all Chilkat calls up to the point of the problem. The VerboseLogging property can be set to provide more detailed information.

This property is typically used for debugging the rare cases where a Chilkat method call hangs or generates an exception that halts program execution (i.e. crashes). A hang or crash should generally never happen. The typical causes of a hang are:

  1. a timeout related property was set to 0 to explicitly indicate that an infinite timeout is desired,
  2. the hang is actually a hang within an event callback (i.e. it is a hang within the application code), or
  3. there is an internal problem (bug) in the Chilkat code that causes the hang.

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GroupSize
@property (nonatomic, copy) NSNumber *GroupSize;

The group size (in bits) to be used in DSA key generation. The default value is 160 and corresponds to the fact that SHA-1 is used in signature generation. This property setting should not be changed. It exists for future expansion when additional underlying hash algorithms are supported.

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Hash
@property (nonatomic, copy) NSData *Hash;

The hash to be signed or verified via the SignHash and Verify methods. In both cases, the Hash should be set prior to calling SignHash or Verify. This property may also be set via the SetEncodedHash method.

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HexG
@property (nonatomic, readonly, copy) NSString *HexG;

The "G" part of a public or private DSA key returned as a hex-encoded SSH1-format bignum. The "G" is the generator. DSA key params consist of G, P, and Q.

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HexP
@property (nonatomic, readonly, copy) NSString *HexP;

The "P" part of a public or private DSA key returned as a hex-encoded SSH1-format bignum. The "P" is a large prime. DSA key params consist of G, P, and Q.

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HexQ
@property (nonatomic, readonly, copy) NSString *HexQ;

The "Q" part of a public or private DSA key returned as a hex-encoded SSH1-format bignum. DSA key params consist of G, P, and Q.

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HexX
@property (nonatomic, readonly, copy) NSString *HexX;

The "X" part of a DSA private key returned as a hex-encoded SSH1-format bignum.

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HexY
@property (nonatomic, readonly, copy) NSString *HexY;

The "Y" part of a DSA public key returned as a hex-encoded SSH1-format bignum. (The "Y" value is also accessible w/ a private key, but the "X" value is not available in a DSA public key.)

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LastErrorHtml
@property (nonatomic, readonly, copy) NSString *LastErrorHtml;

Provides information in HTML format about the last method/property called. If a method call returns a value indicating failure, or behaves unexpectedly, examine this property to get more information.

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LastErrorText
@property (nonatomic, readonly, copy) NSString *LastErrorText;

Provides information in plain-text format about the last method/property called. If a method call returns a value indicating failure, or behaves unexpectedly, examine this property to get more information.

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LastErrorXml
@property (nonatomic, readonly, copy) NSString *LastErrorXml;

Provides information in XML format about the last method/property called. If a method call returns a value indicating failure, or behaves unexpectedly, examine this property to get more information.

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LastMethodSuccess
@property (nonatomic) BOOL LastMethodSuccess;

Indicate whether the last method call succeeded or failed. A value of YES indicates success, a value of NO indicates failure. This property is automatically set for method calls. It is not modified by property accesses. The property is automatically set to indicate success for the following types of method calls:

  • Any method that returns a string.
  • Any method returning a Chilkat object, binary bytes, or a date/time.
  • Any method returning a standard boolean status value where success = YES and failure = NO.
  • Any method returning an integer where failure is defined by a return value less than zero.

Note: Methods that do not fit the above requirements will always set this property equal to YES. For example, a method that returns no value (such as a "void" in C++) will technically always succeed.

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Signature
@property (nonatomic, copy) NSData *Signature;

The signature created by calling SignHash. If verifying a signature, this may be set prior to calling the Verify method.

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UncommonOptions
@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *UncommonOptions;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.90

This is a catch-all property to be used for uncommon needs. This property defaults to the empty string and should typically remain empty.

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VerboseLogging
@property (nonatomic) BOOL VerboseLogging;

If set to YES, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is NO. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.

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Version
@property (nonatomic, readonly, copy) NSString *Version;

Version of the component/library, such as "9.5.0.94"

More Information and Examples
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Methods

FromDer
- (BOOL)FromDer:(NSData *)derData;

Loads a DSA private key from in-memory DSA DER-encoded bytes.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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FromDerFile
- (BOOL)FromDerFile:(NSString *)path;

Loads a DSA private key from a DER-encoded file.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

More Information and Examples
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FromEncryptedPem
- (BOOL)FromEncryptedPem:(NSString *)password
    pemData:(NSString *)pemData;

Loads a DSA private key from an in-memory encrypted PEM-formatted string. If the PEM passed to this method is unencrypted, the password is ignored and the PEM is simply loaded.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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FromPem
- (BOOL)FromPem:(NSString *)pemData;

Loads a DSA private key from an in-memory unencrypted PEM-formatted string.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

More Information and Examples
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FromPublicDer
- (BOOL)FromPublicDer:(NSData *)derData;

Loads a DSA public key from an in-memory DER-encoded byte array.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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FromPublicDerFile
- (BOOL)FromPublicDerFile:(NSString *)path;

Loads a DSA public key from a DER-encoded file.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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FromPublicPem
- (BOOL)FromPublicPem:(NSString *)pemData;

Loads a DSA public-key from an in-memory PEM string.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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FromXml
- (BOOL)FromXml:(NSString *)xmlKey;

Loads a DSA public or private key from an in-memory XML string.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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GenKey
- (BOOL)GenKey:(NSNumber *)numBits;

Generates a new DSA key that is numBits bits in length. The numBits should be at least 1024 bits and a multiple of 64. Typical values are 1024 and 2048. The newly generated key may be exported by calling one of the To* methods.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

More Information and Examples
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GenKey2
- (BOOL)GenKey2:(NSNumber *)keyLenBits
    modLenBits:(NSNumber *)modLenBits;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.90

Generates a new DSA key that is keyLenBits bits in length with a modulus of size modLenBits bits. The keyLenBits should be at least 1024 bits and a multiple of 64. FIPS 186-4 specifies the key length (bits) and modulus size (bits) to have one of the values: (1024, 160), (2048, 224), (2048, 256), or (3072, 256).

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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GenKeyFromParamsDer
- (BOOL)GenKeyFromParamsDer:(NSData *)derBytes;

Generates a new DSA key from in-memory DER parameters created by OpenSSL. The newly generated key may be exported by calling one of the To* methods.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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GenKeyFromParamsDerFile
- (BOOL)GenKeyFromParamsDerFile:(NSString *)path;

Generates a new DSA key from a DER-format parameters file created by OpenSSL. An example of using OpenSSL to generate DSA parameters in DER format is:

openssl dsaparam -outform DER 1024 < seedData.xml > dsaparam.der
The newly generated key may be exported by calling one of the To* methods.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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GenKeyFromParamsPem
- (BOOL)GenKeyFromParamsPem:(NSString *)pem;

Generates a new DSA key from parameters (PEM formatted string) created by OpenSSL. The newly generated key may be exported by calling one of the To* methods.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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GenKeyFromParamsPemFile
- (BOOL)GenKeyFromParamsPemFile:(NSString *)path;

Generates a new DSA key from a PEM parameters file created by OpenSSL. The newly generated key may be exported by calling one of the To* methods.

OpenSSL provides the ability to generate DSA key parameters. For example:

openssl dsaparam 1024 < seedData.txt > dsaparam.pem

Here is a sample DSA parameters PEM:

-----BEGIN DSA PARAMETERS-----
MIIBHgKBgQCXIAx4XzLVZ5ZqOFzdsYWVyH/6E/mVPw4TgMZS6Wxajnbdn1/CUBzE
RWTUp8SguTSDpjC1Q/nyno0G6Q96VoW+PUXv8qUph8vbSaEdsjYO/8jSfzkGfvsa
cucr1ythfNyk63aZAKzxeutOmsVe77l6pZI96ROjWF5iizuUB4WgmwIVANxM70wH
8iPPYVzPZqtXCB66I2SnAoGAIbW2VYRjRdoA7trJgmnfWakghKwV1WyaYrotqeDE
07/dipp0cNuY0IAJgSmqLHlAkNa2ZNI/c1mNxcwhYzZrnn8CXIqrYmtI33w0PYCx
KHPqj7puhddFwYS/rFiyWAN0jtCMHlfCVzFGbSzach5QQraPV9YApJXy+ORJ8VPU
/zo=
-----END DSA PARAMETERS-----

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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GenKeyFromPQG
- (BOOL)GenKeyFromPQG:(NSString *)pHex
    qHex:(NSString *)qHex
    gHex:(NSString *)gHex;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.90

Generates a new DSA key from pre-chosen P, Q, and G params.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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GetEncodedHash
- (NSString *)GetEncodedHash:(NSString *)encoding;

Returns the bytes of the Hash property as a hex or base64 encoded string. The encoding should be set to either "hex" or "base64".

Returns nil on failure

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GetEncodedSignature
- (NSString *)GetEncodedSignature:(NSString *)encoding;

Returns the bytes of the Signature property as a hex or base64 encoded string. The encoding should be set to either "hex" or "base64". The Signature property is set when SignHash is called.

Returns nil on failure

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LoadText
- (NSString *)LoadText:(NSString *)path;

Convenience method to load the entire contents of a text file into a string. It is assumed that the text contains ANSI encoded character data.

Returns nil on failure

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SaveText
- (BOOL)SaveText:(NSString *)strToSave
    path:(NSString *)path;

Convenience method to save a string to a text file. The text is saved using the ANSI character encoding.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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SetEncodedHash
- (BOOL)SetEncodedHash:(NSString *)encoding
    encodedHash:(NSString *)encodedHash;

Provides a way to set the Hash property by passing an encoded string. The encoding can be "hex" or "base64". The encodedHash contains the encoded bytes of the hash that will be signed or verified via the SignHash and Verify methods.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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SetEncodedSignature
- (BOOL)SetEncodedSignature:(NSString *)encoding
    encodedSig:(NSString *)encodedSig;

Sets the bytes of the Signature property. (The signature must be specified prior to calling the Verify method.) This method allows for the signature to be set via a hex or base64 encoded string. The encoding should be set to either "hex" or "base64".

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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SetEncodedSignatureRS
- (BOOL)SetEncodedSignatureRS:(NSString *)encoding
    encodedR:(NSString *)encodedR
    encodedS:(NSString *)encodedS;

Sets the bytes of the Signature property by providing the R and S values in encoded form. (The signature must be specified prior to calling the Verify method.) The R and S values may be set via a hex or base64 encoded string. The encoding should be set to either "hex" or "base64".

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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SetKeyExplicit
- (BOOL)SetKeyExplicit:(NSNumber *)groupSizeInBytes
    pHex:(NSString *)pHex
    qHex:(NSString *)qHex
    gHex:(NSString *)gHex
    xHex:(NSString *)xHex;

Sets the DSA object's private key from explicitly provided pHex, qHex, gHex, and xHex values. The groupSizeInBytes specifies the group size (in bytes). It is typically equal to 20, which is the length of the underlying hash function (SHA-1) for signing. The pHex, qHex, gHex, and xHex values are hex-encoded SSH1-format bignums.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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SetPubKeyExplicit
- (BOOL)SetPubKeyExplicit:(NSNumber *)groupSizeInBytes
    pHex:(NSString *)pHex
    qHex:(NSString *)qHex
    gHex:(NSString *)gHex
    yHex:(NSString *)yHex;

Sets the DSA object's private key from explicitly provided pHex, qHex, gHex, and yHex values. The groupSizeInBytes specifies the group size (in bytes). It is typically equal to 20, which is the length of the underlying hash function (SHA-1) for signing. The pHex, qHex, gHex, and yHex values are hex-encoded SSH1-format bignums.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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SignHash
- (BOOL)SignHash;

Signs a hash using the digital signature algorithm. Before calling this method, set the hash to be signed by either calling SetEncodedHash or by setting the Hash property. If SignHash returns YES, the signature may be retrieved by either calling GetEncodedHash, or by accessing the Signature property.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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ToDer
- (NSData *)ToDer;

Writes the DSA private key to a DER-encoded byte array.

Returns nil on failure

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ToDerFile
- (BOOL)ToDerFile:(NSString *)path;

Writes the DSA private key to a DER-format file.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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ToEncryptedPem
- (NSString *)ToEncryptedPem:(NSString *)password;

Writes the DSA private key to an in-memory encrypted PEM string.

Returns nil on failure

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ToPem
- (NSString *)ToPem;

Writes the DSA private key to an in-memory PEM string.

Returns nil on failure

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ToPublicDer
- (NSData *)ToPublicDer;

Writes the DSA public key to a DER-encoded byte array.

Returns nil on failure

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ToPublicDerFile
- (BOOL)ToPublicDerFile:(NSString *)path;

Writes the DSA public key to a DER-format file.

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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ToPublicPem
- (NSString *)ToPublicPem;

Writes the DSA public key to an in-memory PEM string.

Returns nil on failure

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ToXml
- (NSString *)ToXml:(BOOL)bPublicOnly;

Writes the DSA private or public key to an in-memory XML string. The bPublicOnly determines whether the public or private key is written.

Returns nil on failure

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Verify
- (BOOL)Verify;

Verifies a DSA signature. The Hash and Signature properties must be set prior to calling this method. (These properties may also be set via the SetEncodedHash and SetEncodedSignature methods.)

Returns YES for success, NO for failure.

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VerifyKey
- (BOOL)VerifyKey;

Verifies that the public or private key contained in the calling Dsa object is valid. Returns YES if valid, otherwise returns NO.

More Information and Examples
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