PublicKey ActiveX Reference Documentation

PublicKey

Current Version: 10.0.0

Contains an RSA, DSA, or ECC public key. Provides methods for importing and exporting to/from PEM, DER, PKCS8, PKCS1, and XML formats. Public keys can be imported/exported to both memory and files.

Object Creation

Note:
For versions of Chilkat < 10.0.0, use "Chilkat_9_5_0.PublicKey" instead of "Chilkat.PublicKey"
For a specific major version, use "Chilkat.PublicKey.<major_version>", such as "Chilkat.PublicKey.10" for Chilkat v10.*.*
See Chilkat ActiveX Object Creation

(ASP)
set obj = Server.CreateObject("Chilkat.PublicKey")

(AutoIt)
$obj = ObjCreate("Chilkat.PublicKey")

(Visual Basic 6.0)
Dim obj As New PublicKey

(VBScript)
set obj = CreateObject("Chilkat.PublicKey")

(Delphi)
obj := TPublicKey.Create(Self);

(FoxPro)
loObject = CreateObject('Chilkat.PublicKey')

(PowerBuilder)
lole_object = create oleobject
li_rc = lole_object.ConnectToNewObject("Chilkat.PublicKey")

(SQL Server)
EXEC @hr = sp_OACreate 'Chilkat.PublicKey', @obj OUT

(Javascript)
var obj = new ActiveXObject("Chilkat.PublicKey");

Properties

DebugLogFilePath
DebugLogFilePath As String

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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Empty
Empty As Long (read-only)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.87

Indicates whether this object is empty or holds a public key.

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KeySize
KeySize As Long (read-only)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.67

Gets the size (in bits) of the public key. For example: 1024, 2048, etc.

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KeyType
KeyType As String (read-only)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.52

The type of public key. Can be "empty", "rsa", "dsa", or "ecc".

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LastBinaryResult
LastBinaryResult As Variant (read-only)

The binary data returned by the last (binary data returning) method called. Only available if Chilkat.Global.KeepBinaryResult is set to 1. This provides a means for obtaining large varbinary results in the SQL Server environment (where limitations exist in getting large amounts of data returned by method calls, but where temp tables can be used for binary properties).

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LastErrorHtml
LastErrorHtml As String (read-only)

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
LastErrorText As String (read-only)

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
LastErrorXml As String (read-only)

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
LastMethodSuccess As Long

Indicate whether the last method call succeeded or failed. A value of 1 indicates success, a value of 0 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 = 1 and failure = 0.
  • 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 1. For example, a method that returns no value (such as a "void" in C++) will technically always succeed.

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LastStringResult
LastStringResult As String (read-only)

The string return value of the last (string returning) method called. Only available if Chilkat.Global.KeepStringResult is set to 1. This provides a means for obtaining large string results in the SQL Server environment (where limitations exist in getting long strings returned by method calls, but where temp tables can be used for string properties).

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LastStringResultLen
LastStringResultLen As Long (read-only)

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

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VerboseLogging
VerboseLogging As 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
Version As String (read-only)

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

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Methods

GetDer
GetDer(ByVal preferPkcs1 As Long) As Variant
Introduced in version 9.5.0.58

Returns the public key in binary DER format. If the key type (such as RSA) supports both PKCS1 and PKCS8 formats, then preferPkcs1 determine which format is returned.

Returns a zero-length byte array (as a Variant) on failure.
An empty array will have a UBound of -1 meaning 0 elements.

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GetEncoded
GetEncoded(ByVal preferPkcs1 As Long, encoding As String) As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.58

Returns the public key in DER format as an encoded string (such as base64 or hex). If the key type (such as RSA) supports both PKCS1 and PKCS8 formats, then preferPkcs1 determine which format is returned. The encoding specifies the encoding, which is typically "base64".

Returns Nothing on failure

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GetJwk
GetJwk() As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.66

Gets the public key in JWK (JSON Web Key) format.

RSA public keys have this JWK format:

         {"kty":"RSA",
          "n": "0vx7agoebGcQSuuPiLJXZptN9 ... U8awapJzKnqDKgw",
          "e":"AQAB"}

ECC public keys have this JWK format:

         {"kty":"EC",
          "crv":"P-256",
          "x":"MKBCTNIcKUSDii11ySs3526iDZ8AiTo7Tu6KPAqv7D4",
          "y":"4Etl6SRW2YiLUrN5vfvVHuhp7x8PxltmWWlbbM4IFyM"}

Ed25519 public keys (added in v9.5.0.83) have this JWK format:

         {"kty":"OKP",
          "crv":"Ed25519",
          "x": "SE2Kne5xt51z1eciMH2T2ftDQp96Gl6FhY6zSQujiP0"}

Returns Nothing on failure

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GetJwkThumbprint
GetJwkThumbprint(hashAlg As String) As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.66

Returns the JWK thumbprint for the public key. This is the thumbprint of the JSON Web Key (JWK) as per RFC 7638.

Returns Nothing on failure

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GetPem
GetPem(ByVal preferPkcs1 As Long) As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.58

Returns the public key in PEM format. If the key type (such as RSA) supports both PKCS1 and PKCS8 formats, then preferPkcs1 determine which format is returned.

Returns Nothing on failure

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GetXml
GetXml() As String

Gets the public key in XML format. The format depends on the key type. The key parts indicated by "..." are base64 encoded.

RSA public keys have this XML format:

<RSAPublicKey>
  <Modulus>...</Modulus>
  <Exponent>...</Exponent>
</RSAPublicKey>

DSA public keys have this XML format:

<DSAPublicKey>
    <P>...</P>
    <Q>...</Q>
    <G>...</G>
    <Y>...</Y>
</DSAPublicKey>

ECC public keys have this XML format:

<ECCPublicKey curve="CURVE_NAME" x="HEX_DATA" y="HEX_DATA">...</ECCPublicKey>

Returns Nothing on failure

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LoadBase64
LoadBase64(keyStr As String) As Long
Introduced in version 9.5.0.47

Loads a public key from base64-encoded DER (can be PKCS1 or PKCS8).

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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LoadBd
LoadBd(bd As ChilkatBinData) As Long
Introduced in version 9.5.0.83

Loads a public key from any binary or string format where the data is contained in bd. Chilkat automatically recognizes the format and key type (RSA, EC, DSA, Ed25519, ..)

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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LoadEcdsa
LoadEcdsa(curveName As String, Qx As String, Qy As String) As Long
Introduced in version 9.5.0.85

Loads an ECDSA public key directly from Qx, Qy values specified as a hex strings. The curveName can be one of the following:

  • secp256r1
  • secp384r1
  • secp521r1
  • secp256k1
  • secp192r1
  • secp224r1
  • brainpoolp256r1
  • brainpoolp160r1
  • brainpoolp192r1
  • brainpoolp224r1
  • brainpoolp320r1
  • brainpoolp384r1
  • brainpoolp512r1

Note: ECDSA public keys of various formats, such as PKCS8, PKCS1, JWK, XML, binary DER, PEM, etc., can be loaded using the LoadBd, LoadFromBinary, LoadFromFile, and LoadFromString methods.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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LoadEd25519
LoadEd25519(pubKey As String) As Long
Introduced in version 9.5.0.83

Loads the public key object from a 32-byte ed25519 key specified as a hex string.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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LoadFromBinary
LoadFromBinary(keyBytes As Variant) As Long
Introduced in version 9.5.0.58

Loads a public key from binary DER. Auto-recognizes both PKCS1 and PKCS8 formats.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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LoadFromFile
LoadFromFile(path As String) As Long
Introduced in version 9.5.0.58

Loads a public key from a file. The file can be in any string or binary format such as binary DER (PKCS1 or PKCS8), PEM, XML, or encoded binary DER (such as base64 encoded binary DER). The format of the contents of the file is auto-recognized.

Starting in version 9.5.0.66, this method also supports loading the JWK (JSON Web Key) format.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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LoadFromString
LoadFromString(keyString As String) As Long
Introduced in version 9.5.0.58

Loads a public key from any string format, such as PEM, XML, or encoded binary DER (such as base64 encoded binary DER). The format of the keyString is auto-recognized.

Starting in version 9.5.0.66, this method also supports loading the JWK (JSON Web Key) format.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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SaveDerFile
SaveDerFile(ByVal preferPkcs1 As Long, path As String) As Long
Introduced in version 9.5.0.58

Saves the public key to a file in binary DER format. If the key type (such as RSA) supports both PKCS1 and PKCS8 formats, then preferPkcs1 determine which format is returned.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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SavePemFile
SavePemFile(ByVal preferPkcs1 As Long, path As String) As Long
Introduced in version 9.5.0.58

Saves the public key to a file in PEM format. If the key type (such as RSA) supports both PKCS1 and PKCS8 formats, then preferPkcs1 determine which format is returned.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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SaveXmlFile
SaveXmlFile(path As String) As Long

Saves the public key to an XML file.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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