Visual Basic 6.0

Create an Opaque (Attached) S/MIME Signature

Demonstrates the Chilkat Mime.ConvertToSigned method, which creates an opaque (attached) S/MIME signature. The only argument is the signing Cert. On success the entity is replaced by a CMS/PKCS #7 signed-data structure that wraps the content inside the signature.

Note: The file paths are relative to the application's current working directory. Absolute paths may also be used. Supply the paths appropriate to your own environment.

Background: An opaque signature bundles the content inside the CMS structure, so the message is a single application/pkcs7-mime blob that only S/MIME-aware software can read. It is more tamper-resistant in transit — nothing can alter the content without breaking the wrapper — at the cost of the backward compatibility a detached signature offers. Use it when every recipient is known to support S/MIME.

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Visual Basic 6.0

Dim success As Long
success = 0

Dim mime As New ChilkatMime
success = mime.SetBodyFromPlainText("This message will be signed.")
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print mime.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

'  Load the signing certificate (which must have access to its private key) from a PFX file.
'  The PFX password should come from a secure source rather than being hard-coded.
Dim pfxPassword As String
pfxPassword = "myPfxPassword"
Dim cert As New ChilkatCert
success = cert.LoadPfxFile("qa_data/signer.pfx",pfxPassword)
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print cert.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

'  Create an OPAQUE (attached) S/MIME signature.  The entity is replaced by a CMS/PKCS #7
'  signed-data structure that wraps the content inside the signature.
success = mime.ConvertToSigned(cert)
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print mime.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

success = mime.SaveMime("qa_output/signed_opaque.eml")
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print mime.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

Debug.Print "Message converted to an opaque signed message."