Reference Class
Represents the <reference> element of an XML signature.
Assembly: System.Security (in System.Security.dll)
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() | Reference() | Initializes a new instance of the Reference class with default properties. |
![]() | Reference(Stream^) | Initializes a new instance of the Reference class with a hash value of the specified Stream. |
![]() | Reference(String^) | Initializes a new instance of the Reference class with the specified Uri. |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() | DigestMethod | Gets or sets the digest method Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) of the current Reference. |
![]() | DigestValue | Gets or sets the digest value of the current Reference. |
![]() | Id | Gets or sets the ID of the current Reference. |
![]() | TransformChain | Gets the transform chain of the current Reference. |
![]() | Type | Gets or sets the type of the object being signed. |
![]() | Uri | Gets or sets the Uri of the current Reference. |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() | AddTransform(Transform^) | Adds a Transform object to the list of transforms to be performed on the data before passing it to the digest algorithm. |
![]() | Equals(Object^) | Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object.(Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | Finalize() | Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection.(Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | GetHashCode() | Serves as the default hash function. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | GetType() | |
![]() | GetXml() | Returns the XML representation of the Reference. |
![]() | LoadXml(XmlElement^) | Loads a Reference state from an XML element. |
![]() | MemberwiseClone() | |
![]() | ToString() | Returns a string that represents the current object.(Inherited from Object.) |
The Reference object represents the <reference> element of an XML digital signature defined by the XML digital signature specification.
Use the Reference object to specify the following information:
The digest algorithm used to sign of the data object. This value is required.
The Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) of the data object to sign. The URI can specify a file path or specific elements within an XML document. This value is required.
A chain of transforms to apply before generating the digest. This value is optional.
The type of object to sign. This value is optional.
A unique identifier used to reference the current <reference> element. This value is optional.
For more information about the <reference> element, see the W3C specification at www.w3.org/TR/xmldsig-core/.
The following code example demonstrates how to generate and verify an enveloped XML signature using the Reference object.
// // This example signs an XML file using an // envelope signature. It then verifies the // signed XML. // #using <System.Security.dll> #using <System.Xml.dll> using namespace System; using namespace System::Security::Cryptography; using namespace System::Security::Cryptography::X509Certificates; using namespace System::Security::Cryptography::Xml; using namespace System::Text; using namespace System::Xml; // Sign an XML file and save the signature in a new file. void SignXmlFile( String^ FileName, String^ SignedFileName, RSA^ Key ) { // Create a new XML document. XmlDocument^ doc = gcnew XmlDocument; // Format the document to ignore white spaces. doc->PreserveWhitespace = false; // Load the passed XML file using its name. doc->Load( gcnew XmlTextReader( FileName ) ); // Create a SignedXml object. SignedXml^ signedXml = gcnew SignedXml( doc ); // Add the key to the SignedXml document. signedXml->SigningKey = Key; // Create a reference to be signed. Reference^ reference = gcnew Reference; reference->Uri = ""; // Add an enveloped transformation to the reference. XmlDsigEnvelopedSignatureTransform^ env = gcnew XmlDsigEnvelopedSignatureTransform; reference->AddTransform( env ); // Add the reference to the SignedXml object. signedXml->AddReference( reference ); // Add an RSAKeyValue KeyInfo (optional; helps recipient find key to validate). KeyInfo^ keyInfo = gcnew KeyInfo; keyInfo->AddClause( gcnew RSAKeyValue( safe_cast<RSA^>(Key) ) ); signedXml->KeyInfo = keyInfo; // Compute the signature. signedXml->ComputeSignature(); // Get the XML representation of the signature and save // it to an XmlElement object. XmlElement^ xmlDigitalSignature = signedXml->GetXml(); // Append the element to the XML document. doc->DocumentElement->AppendChild( doc->ImportNode( xmlDigitalSignature, true ) ); if ( (doc->FirstChild)->GetType() == XmlDeclaration::typeid ) { doc->RemoveChild( doc->FirstChild ); } // Save the signed XML document to a file specified // using the passed string. XmlTextWriter^ xmltw = gcnew XmlTextWriter( SignedFileName,gcnew UTF8Encoding( false ) ); doc->WriteTo( xmltw ); xmltw->Close(); } // Verify the signature of an XML file and return the result. Boolean VerifyXmlFile( String^ Name ) { // Create a new XML document. XmlDocument^ xmlDocument = gcnew XmlDocument; // Format using white spaces. xmlDocument->PreserveWhitespace = true; // Load the passed XML file into the document. xmlDocument->Load( Name ); // Create a new SignedXml object and pass it // the XML document class. SignedXml^ signedXml = gcnew SignedXml( xmlDocument ); // Find the "Signature" node and create a new // XmlNodeList object. XmlNodeList^ nodeList = xmlDocument->GetElementsByTagName( "Signature" ); // Load the signature node. signedXml->LoadXml( safe_cast<XmlElement^>(nodeList->Item( 0 )) ); // Check the signature and return the result. return signedXml->CheckSignature(); } // Create example data to sign. void CreateSomeXml( String^ FileName ) { // Create a new XmlDocument object. XmlDocument^ document = gcnew XmlDocument; // Create a new XmlNode object. XmlNode^ node = document->CreateNode( XmlNodeType::Element, "", "MyElement", "samples" ); // Add some text to the node. node->InnerText = "Example text to be signed."; // Append the node to the document. document->AppendChild( node ); // Save the XML document to the file name specified. XmlTextWriter^ xmltw = gcnew XmlTextWriter( FileName,gcnew UTF8Encoding( false ) ); document->WriteTo( xmltw ); xmltw->Close(); } int main() { try { // Generate a signing key. RSACryptoServiceProvider^ Key = gcnew RSACryptoServiceProvider; // Create an XML file to sign. CreateSomeXml( "Example.xml" ); Console::WriteLine( "New XML file created." ); // Sign the XML that was just created and save it in a // new file. SignXmlFile( "Example.xml", "SignedExample.xml", Key ); Console::WriteLine( "XML file signed." ); // Verify the signature of the signed XML. Console::WriteLine( "Verifying signature..." ); bool result = VerifyXmlFile( "SignedExample.xml" ); // Display the results of the signature verification to // the console. if ( result ) { Console::WriteLine( "The XML signature is valid." ); } else { Console::WriteLine( "The XML signature is not valid." ); } } catch ( CryptographicException^ e ) { Console::WriteLine( e->Message ); } }
Available since 1.1
Any public static ( Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.


