NAME

certtostr, pktostr, sktostr, strtocert, strtopk, strtosk − encryption key conversion functions

SYNOPSIS

include "keyring.m"
keyring:= load Keyring Keyring->PATH;
 strtocert: fn(s: string)         : ref Certificate;
certtostr: fn(c: ref Certificate): string;
strtopk:   fn(s: string)         : ref PK;
pktostr:   fn(pk: ref PK)        : string;
strtosk:   fn(s: string)         : ref SK;
sktostr:   fn(sk: ref SK)        : string;

DESCRIPTION

Certificates, public keys, and private keys are passed over networks and between applications using a Unicode representation. This collection of functions provide a means to convert adts supplied by the system to and from their portable textual representation. These routines are typically used as part of an I/O package for implementing security. 

­Strtocert takes a string argument containing a user name, a hash algorithm, a certifying authority and an expiration time. Fields are separated by a newline. The return value is a Certificate.  If the string is of improper format, the result is nil.

­Certtostr performs the inverse operation: takes the ­Certificate ­c and produces a text string suitable for communication over a network. 

­Strtopk and ­strtosk take as their arguments a string ­s representing the public and private keys respectively.  ­S must contain an algorithm name, a user name and the key. Fields are separated by a newline.  ­Strtopk returns a reference to the resulting PK; ­strtosk returns a reference to the resulting SK.  If the format of ­s is invalid, the result is nil.

­Pktostr and ­sktostr perform the inverse operations: they take a public key (secret key) and produce a printable representation as a string. 

SOURCE

­/interp/keyring.c

Plan 9  —  June 07, 2000