SecureString Classic ASP Reference Documentation

SecureString

Current Version: 11.6.0

Chilkat.SecureString

Store, append, compare, hash, verify, and securely access sensitive string values.

Chilkat.SecureString holds sensitive text in an encrypted in-memory form while still allowing controlled operations on the value. It can append clear-text strings, append text from a StringBuilder, append another SecureString, load text from a file, return the clear-text value when needed, compare secure strings, mark the value read-only, maintain a hash of the current value, and verify a supplied hash against that maintained value.

Encrypted in-memory value

Store sensitive text in a form that is decrypted only when needed for access, modification, comparison, or hashing.

Append safely

Append clear-text strings, StringBuilder content, or another SecureString; the value is then re-encrypted.

Read-only protection

Set ReadOnly to prevent later modification of the secure string.

Hash maintenance

Set MaintainHash to a supported hash algorithm such as sha256, sha512, sha1, or md5.

Hash output and verification

Retrieve the current hash value in an encoding such as hex or Base64, or verify a supplied encoded hash with VerifyHash.

Compare and access

Compare two secure strings with SecStrEquals, or call Access when the clear-text value is required.

Common pattern: Create a SecureString, load or append the sensitive text, set MaintainHash if later verification is needed, and optionally set ReadOnly after the final value is established. Use Access only at the point where the clear-text string is actually needed, and check LastErrorText if an append, file load, hash, or verification operation fails.
Hash note: VerifyHash depends on MaintainHash having already been set so the object maintains an internal hash for the current secure string value.

Object Creation

set secureString = Server.CreateObject("Chilkat.SecureString")

' ... use secureString ...

set secureString = Nothing

Classic ASP creates Chilkat objects with Server.CreateObject. The registered Chilkat ActiveX must match the bitness of the IIS application pool: a pool with Enable 32-Bit Applications set to True needs the 32-bit ActiveX, otherwise the 64-bit ActiveX. To bind to a specific major version of Chilkat, append the major version number to the ProgID, such as Server.CreateObject("Chilkat.SecureString.11") for Chilkat v11.*.*.

VBScript requires set when assigning an object, so the signatures on this page show set x = obj.Method(...) for methods that return a Chilkat object; test the result with Is Nothing, since a method that fails to return an object returns Nothing. A method with no return value is called as a statement without parentheses (obj.Method arg1, arg2). Boolean properties, arguments and return values are integers in the ActiveX: pass 1 or 0, and test success with = 1. Byte arrays are Variant arrays and can be sent with Response.BinaryWrite. Asynchronous (*Async) methods and event callbacks are not used from Classic ASP.

Properties

DebugLogFilePath
secureString.DebugLogFilePath ' String

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.

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LastBinaryResult
secureString.LastBinaryResult ' Variant (read-only)

This property is mainly used in SQL Server stored procedures to retrieve binary data from the last method call that returned binary data. It is only accessible if Chilkat.Global.KeepBinaryResult is set to 1. This feature allows for the retrieval of large varbinary results in an SQL Server environment, which has restrictions on returning large data via method calls, though temp tables can handle binary properties.

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LastErrorHtml
secureString.LastErrorHtml ' String (read-only)

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.

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LastErrorText
secureString.LastErrorText ' String (read-only)

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.

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LastErrorXml
secureString.LastErrorXml ' String (read-only)

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.

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LastMethodSuccess
secureString.LastMethodSuccess ' Long

Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: 1 means success, 0 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.

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LastStringResult
secureString.LastStringResult ' String (read-only)

In SQL Server stored procedures, this property holds the string return value of the most recent method call that returns a string. It is accessible only when Chilkat.Global.KeepStringResult is set to TRUE. SQL Server has limitations on string lengths returned from methods and properties, but temp tables can be used to access large strings.

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LastStringResultLen
secureString.LastStringResultLen ' Long (read-only)

The length, in characters, of the string contained in the LastStringResult property.

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MaintainHash
secureString.MaintainHash ' String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.71

If set to the name of a hash algorithm, then a hash of the current string value is maintained. This allows for the hash to be verified via the VerifyHash method. Possible hash algorithm names are sha1, sha256, sha384, sha512, md5, md2, ripemd160, ripemd128,ripemd256, and ripemd320.

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ReadOnly
secureString.ReadOnly ' Long
Introduced in version 9.5.0.71

Can be set to 1 to make this secure string read-only (cannot be modified).

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VerboseLogging
secureString.VerboseLogging ' Long

If set to 1, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is 0. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.

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Version
secureString.Version ' String (read-only)

Version of the component/library, such as "10.1.0"

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Methods

Access
str = secureString.Access() ' String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.71

Returns the clear-text string value.

Returns Nothing on failure

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Append
success = secureString.Append(str) ' Long (1/0)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.71

Appends a clear-text string to this secure string. The in-memory data will be decrypted, the string will be appended, and then it will be re-encrypted. Can return 0 if the string has been marked as read-only via the ReadOnly property.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendSb
success = secureString.AppendSb(sb) ' Long (1/0)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.71

Appends a clear-text string contained in a StringBuilder to this secure string. The in-memory data will be decrypted, the string will be appended, and then it will be re-encrypted. Can return 0 if the string has been marked as read-only via the ReadOnly property.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendSecure
success = secureString.AppendSecure(secStr) ' Long (1/0)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.71

Appends the contents of a secure string to this secure string. The in-memory data will be decrypted, the secure string will be appended, and then it will be re-encrypted. Can return 0 if this string has been marked as read-only via the ReadOnly property.

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HashVal
str = secureString.HashVal(encoding) ' String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.71

Returns the hash value for the current value of this secure string. The encoding specifies the encoding to be used. It can be any of the binary encoding algorithms, such as base64, hex, and many more listed at Chilkat Binary Encodings

Returns Nothing on failure

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LoadFile
success = secureString.LoadFile(path, charset) ' Long (1/0)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.71

Loads the contents of a file into this secure string. The current contents of this object are replaced with the new text from the file.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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SecStrEquals
success = secureString.SecStrEquals(secStr) ' Long (1/0)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.71

Returns 1 if the secStr equals the contents of this secure string.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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VerifyHash
success = secureString.VerifyHash(hashVal, encoding) ' Long (1/0)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.71

Verifies the hashVal against the hash value stored for the current value of this secure string. The MaintainHash property must've previously been set for this secure string to maintain an internal hash. The encoding specifies the encoding of the hashVal. It can be any of the binary encoding algorithms, such as base64, hex, and many more listed at Chilkat Binary Encodings

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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