PGP
Section: User Manual (5.0)
Updated: JULY 1997 (v5.0)
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DESCRIPTION
This document describes the process of integrating PGP with third
party applications.
STRATEGIES
There are two basic possible strategies for PGP integration: source
level (calling the PGP libraries directly) and executable level (using
system(2)
or some other method to call the PGP executables).
This document will not detail the library method at this time. When
PGP 5.5 is released, all support will be migrated to the new
Cryptographic Development Kit (CDK) from the existing APIs. Developers
are encouraged to either use the executable integration method
detailed here or wait for the CDK to be released.
EXECUTABLE INTEGRATION
The most straightforward means of integrating PGP support into your
application is to open input and output pipes to the PGP executables.
It is possible at that point to monitor for PGP exit codes and output
display. In order to facilitate this path, PGP 5.0 has support for a
"headers mode." All applications accept the switch
--headers,
which categorize the output into one of five headers:
- PRI
-
Primary PGP output. This is the decrypted message for
pgpv(1),
the key or listing of keys for
pgpk(1)
or the encrypted or signed message for
pgpe(1)
and
pgps(1).
- INF
-
Informational output. This is for information about the primary
output. This is primarily used by
pgpv(1)
to provide information about who signed a message and when.
- QRY
-
Interaction output. Not necessarily a query,
per se,
but, rather, output that either requests input from the user or
provides information leading up to such a request.
- STA
-
Status output. Information about where PGP is in the current
operation.
- WRN
-
Warnings. These are messages which indicate something
may
be amiss, but generally allow the user to make the final decision.
- ERR
-
Errors. Not all error messages are critical enough to halt operation,
but most are.
EXAMPLE
Headerized output is of the form "HDR:Output," for example:
STA:Creating output file foo.asc
Is a
status
message indicating the output file is being written.
CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
Application integrators are encourages to read the
pgp.cfg(5)
documentation, which details how to pass configuration options on the
command line, including the public and private keyrings your
application wishes to use.
SEE ALSO
pgp(1),
pgpe(1),
pgpv(1),
pgps(1),
pgpk(1),
pgp-integration(7),
http://www.pgp.com
and
http://web.mit.edu/network/pgp.html
Index
- DESCRIPTION
-
- STRATEGIES
-
- EXECUTABLE INTEGRATION
-
- EXAMPLE
-
- CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
-
- SEE ALSO
-
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