Cert C# Reference Documentation

Cert

Current Version: 10.0.0

Digital certificate component / class

Object Creation

Chilkat.Cert obj = new Chilkat.Cert();

Properties

AuthorityKeyId
public string AuthorityKeyId {get; }
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

The authority key identifier of the certificate in base64 string format. This is only present if the certificate contains the extension OID 2.5.29.35.

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AvoidWindowsPkAccess
public bool AvoidWindowsPkAccess {get; set; }

Applies only when running on a Microsoft Windows operating system. If true, then any method that returns a certificate will not try to also access the associated private key, assuming one exists. This is useful if the certificate was installed with high-security such that a private key access would trigger the Windows OS to display a security warning dialog. The default value of this property is false.

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CertVersion
public int CertVersion {get; }

The version of the certificate (1, 2, or 3). A value of 0 indicates an error -- the most likely cause being that the certificate object is empty (i.e. was never loaded with a certificate). Note: This is not the version of the software, it is the version of the X.509 certificate object. The version of the Chilkat certificate software is indicated by the Version property.

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CspName
public string CspName {get; }

(Relevant only when running on a Microsoft Windows operating system.) If the HasKeyContainer property is true, then the certificate is linked to a key container and this property contains the name of the associated CSP (cryptographic service provider). When a certificate is linked to a key container , the following properties will provide information about the key container and private key: CspName, KeyContainerName, MachineKeyset, and Silent.

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DebugLogFilePath
public string DebugLogFilePath {get; set; }

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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Expired
public bool Expired {get; }

Has a value of true if the certificate or any certificate in the chain of authority has expired. (This information is not available when running on Windows 95/98 computers.)

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ExtendedKeyUsage
public string ExtendedKeyUsage {get; }
Introduced in version 9.5.0.85

Returns a string containing a comma separated list of keywords with the extended key usages of the certificate. The list of possible extended key usages are:

  • serverAuth - TLS WWW server authentication
  • clientAuth - TLS WWW client authentication
  • codeSigning - Signing of downloadable executable code
  • emailProtection - Email protection
  • timeStamping - Binding the hash of an object to a time
  • OCSPSigning - Signing OCSP responses

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ForClientAuthentication
public bool ForClientAuthentication {get; }

true if this certificate can be used for client authentication, otherwise false.

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ForCodeSigning
public bool ForCodeSigning {get; }

true if this certificate can be used for code signing, otherwise false.

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ForSecureEmail
public bool ForSecureEmail {get; }

true if this certificate can be used for sending secure email, otherwise false.

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ForServerAuthentication
public bool ForServerAuthentication {get; }

true if this certificate can be used for server authentication, otherwise false.

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ForTimeStamping
public bool ForTimeStamping {get; }

true if this certificate can be used for time stamping, otherwise false.

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HasKeyContainer
public bool HasKeyContainer {get; }

(Relevant only when running on a Microsoft Windows operating system.) Indicates whether this certificate is linked to a key container. If true then the certificate is linked to a key container (usually containing a private key). If false, then it is not.

When a certificate is linked to a key container , the following properties will provide information about the key container and private key: CspName, KeyContainerName, MachineKeyset, and Silent.

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IntendedKeyUsage
public uint IntendedKeyUsage {get; }

Bitflags indicating the intended usages of the certificate. The flags are:
Digital Signature: 0x80
Non-Repudiation: 0x40
Key Encipherment: 0x20
Data Encipherment: 0x10
Key Agreement: 0x08
Certificate Signing: 0x04
CRL Signing: 0x02
Encipher-Only: 0x01

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IsRoot
public bool IsRoot {get; }

true if this is the root certificate, otherwise false.

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IssuerC
public string IssuerC {get; }

The certificate issuer's country.

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IssuerCN
public string IssuerCN {get; }

The certificate issuer's common name.

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IssuerDN
public string IssuerDN {get; }

The issuer's full distinguished name.

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IssuerE
public string IssuerE {get; }

The certificate issuer's email address.

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IssuerL
public string IssuerL {get; }

The certificate issuer's locality, which could be a city, count, township, or other geographic region.

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IssuerO
public string IssuerO {get; }

The certificate issuer's organization, which is typically the company name.

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IssuerOU
public string IssuerOU {get; }

The certificate issuer's organizational unit, which is the unit within the organization.

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IssuerS
public string IssuerS {get; }

The certificate issuer's state or province.

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KeyContainerName
public string KeyContainerName {get; }

(Relevant only when running on a Microsoft Windows operating system.) If the HasKeyContainer property is true, then the certificate is linked to a key container and this property contains the name of the key container.

When a certificate is linked to a key container , the following properties will provide information about the key container and private key: CspName, KeyContainerName, MachineKeyset, and Silent.

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LastErrorHtml
public string LastErrorHtml {get; }

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
public string LastErrorText {get; }

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
public string LastErrorXml {get; }

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
public bool LastMethodSuccess {get; set; }

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

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MachineKeyset
public bool MachineKeyset {get; }

(Relevant only when running on a Microsoft Windows operating system.) If the HasKeyContainer property is true, then the certificate is linked to a key container and this property indicates whether the key container is in the machine's keyset or in the keyset specific to the logged on user's account. If true, the key container is within the machine keyset. If false, it's in the user's keyset.

When a certificate is linked to a key container , the following properties will provide information about the key container and private key: CspName, KeyContainerName, MachineKeyset, and Silent.

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OcspUrl
public string OcspUrl {get; }

If present in the certificate's extensions, returns the OCSP URL of the certificate. (The Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) is an Internet protocol used for obtaining the revocation status of an X.509 digital certificate.)

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PrivateKeyExportable
public bool PrivateKeyExportable {get; }

(Relevant only when running on a Microsoft Windows operating system.) Indicates whether the private key was installed with security settings that allow it to be re-exported.

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Revoked
public bool Revoked {get; }

true if the certificate or any certificate in the chain of authority has been revoked. This information is not available when running on Windows 95/98 computers. Note: If this property is false, it could mean that it was not able to check the revocation status. Because of this uncertainty, a CheckRevoked method has been added. It returns an integer indicating one of three possible states: 1 (revoked) , 0 (not revoked), -1 (unable to check revocation status).

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Rfc822Name
public string Rfc822Name {get; }

The RFC822 name of the certificate. (The RFC822 name is one part of the Subject Alternative Name extension of a certificate, if it exists. It is often the only part of the SAN.)

If the certificate contains a list of RFC822 names then this property will return the comma separated list of names.

Starting in Chilkat v9.5.0.85, to get the complete Subject Alternative Name extension as XML, use the SubjectAlternativeName property.

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SelfSigned
public bool SelfSigned {get; }

true if this is a self-signed certificate, otherwise false.

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SerialDecimal
public string SerialDecimal {get; }
Introduced in version 9.5.0.75

The certificate's serial number as a decimal string.

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SerialNumber
public string SerialNumber {get; }

The certificate's serial number as a hexidecimal string.

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Sha1Thumbprint
public string Sha1Thumbprint {get; }

Hexidecimal string of the SHA-1 thumbprint for the certificate. (This is the SHA1 hash of the binary DER representation of the entire X.509 certificate.)

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SignatureVerified
public bool SignatureVerified {get; }

Returns true if the certificate and all certificates in the chain of authority have valid signatures, otherwise returns false.

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Silent
public bool Silent {get; }

(Relevant only when running on a Microsoft Windows operating system.)

If the HasKeyContainer property is true, then the certificate is linked to a key container and this property indicates that the key container will attempt to open any keys silently without any user interface prompts.

When a certificate is linked to a key container , the following properties will provide information about the key container and private key: CspName, KeyContainerName, MachineKeyset, and Silent.

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SmartCardNoDialog
public bool SmartCardNoDialog {get; set; }
Introduced in version 9.5.0.77

If set to true, then no dialog will automatically popup if the SmartCardPin is incorrect. Instead, the method requiring the private key on the smart card will fail. The default value of this property is false, which means that if the SmartCardPin property is incorrect, a dialog with prompt will be displayed.

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SmartCardPin
public string SmartCardPin {get; set; }
Introduced in version 9.5.0.75

Can be set to the PIN value for a certificate / private key stored on a smart card.

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SubjectAlternativeName
public string SubjectAlternativeName {get; }
Introduced in version 9.5.0.85

The subject alternative name (SAN) name of the certificate returned as XML. See the examples linked below.

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SubjectC
public string SubjectC {get; }

The certificate subject's country.

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SubjectCN
public string SubjectCN {get; }

The certificate subject's common name.

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SubjectDN
public string SubjectDN {get; }

The certificate subject's full distinguished name.

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SubjectE
public string SubjectE {get; }

The certificate subject's email address.

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SubjectKeyId
public string SubjectKeyId {get; }
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

The subject key identifier of the certificate in base64 string format. This is only present if the certificate contains the extension OID 2.5.29.14.

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SubjectL
public string SubjectL {get; }

The certificate subject's locality, which could be a city, count, township, or other geographic region.

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SubjectO
public string SubjectO {get; }

The certificate subject's organization, which is typically the company name.

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SubjectOU
public string SubjectOU {get; }

The certificate subject's organizational unit, which is the unit within the organization.

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SubjectS
public string SubjectS {get; }

The certificate subject's state or province.

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TrustedRoot
public bool TrustedRoot {get; }

Returns true if the certificate has a trusted root authority, otherwise returns false.

Note: As of version 9.5.0.41, the notion of what your application deems as trusted becomes more specific. The TrustedRoots class/object was added in v9.5.0.0. Prior to this, a certificate was considered to be anchored by a trusted root if the certificate chain could be established to a root (self-signed) certificate, AND if the root certificate was located somewhere in the Windows registry-based certificate stores. There are two problems with this: (1) it's a Windows-only solution. This property would always return false on non-Windows systems, and (2) it might be considered not a strong enough set of conditions for trusting a root certificate.

As of version 9.5.0.41, this property pays attention to the new TrustedRoots class/object, which allows for an application to specificallly indicate which root certificates are to be trusted. Certificates may be added to the TrustedRoots object via the LoadCaCertsPem or AddCert methods, and then activated by calling the TrustedRoots.Activate method. The activated trusted roots are deemed to be trusted in any Chilkat API method/property that needs to make this determination. In addition, the TrustedRoots object has a property named TrustSystemCaRoots, which defaults to true, which allows for backward compatibility. It will trust CA certificates stored in the Windows registry-based certificate stores, or if on Linux, will trust certificates found in /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt.

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UncommonOptions
public string UncommonOptions {get; set; }
Introduced in version 9.5.0.87

This is a catch-all property to be used for uncommon needs. This property defaults to the empty string, and should typically remain empty.

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ValidFromStr
public string ValidFromStr {get; }

The date (in RFC822 string format) that this certificate becomes (or became) valid. It is a GMT/UTC date that is returned.

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ValidToStr
public string ValidToStr {get; }

The date (in RFC822 string format) that this certificate becomes (or became) invalid. It is a GMT/UTC date that is returned.

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VerboseLogging
public bool VerboseLogging {get; set; }

If set to true, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is false. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.

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Version
public string Version {get; }

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

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Methods

CheckRevoked
public int CheckRevoked();

Returns 1 if the certificate has been revoked, 0 if not revoked, and -1 if unable to check the revocation status.

Note: This method is only implemented on Windows systems. It uses the underlying Microsoft CertVerifyRevocation Platform SDK function to check the revocation status of a certificate. (Search "CertVerifyRevocation" to get information about it.)

Non-Windows (and Windows) applications can send an OCSP request as shown in the example below.

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CheckSmartCardPin
public int CheckSmartCardPin();
Introduced in version 9.5.0.77

Verifies that the SmartCardPin property setting is correct. Returns 1 if correct, 0 if incorrect, and -1 if unable to check because the underlying CSP does not support the functionality.

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ExportCertDer
public byte[] ExportCertDer();

Exports the digital certificate to ASN.1 DER format.

Returns an empty byte array on failure

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ExportCertDerBd
public bool ExportCertDerBd(BinData cerData);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.70

Exports the digital certificate in ASN.1 DER format to a BinData object.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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ExportCertDerFile
public bool ExportCertDerFile(string path);

Exports the digital certificate to ASN.1 DER format binary file.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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ExportCertPem
public string ExportCertPem();

Exports the digital certificate to an unencrypted PEM formatted string.

Returns null on failure

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ExportCertPemFile
public bool ExportCertPemFile(string path);

Exports the digital certificate to an unencrypted PEM formatted file.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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ExportCertXml
public string ExportCertXml();

Exports a certificate to an XML format where the XML tags are the names of the ASN.1 objects that compose the X.509 certificate. Binary data is either hex or base64 encoded. (The binary data for a "bits" ASN.1 tag is hex encoded, whereas for all other ASN.1 tags, such as "octets", it is base64.)

Returns null on failure

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ExportPrivateKey
public PrivateKey ExportPrivateKey();

Exports the certificate's private key.

Returns null on failure

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ExportPublicKey
public PublicKey ExportPublicKey();

Exports the certificate's public key.

Returns null on failure

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ExportToPfxBd
public bool ExportToPfxBd(string password, bool includeCertChain, BinData pfxData);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.70

Exports the certificate and private key (if available) to pfxData. The password is what will be required to access the PFX contents at a later time. If includeCertChain is true, then the certificates in the chain of authority are also included in the PFX.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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ExportToPfxData
public byte[] ExportToPfxData(string password, bool includeCertChain);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.31

Exports the certificate and private key (if available) to an in-memory PFX image. The password is what will be required to access the PFX contents at a later time. If includeCertChain is true, then the certificates in the chain of authority are also included in the PFX.

Returns an empty byte array on failure

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ExportToPfxFile
public bool ExportToPfxFile(string pfxFilename, string pfxPassword, bool bIncludeCertChain);

Exports the certificate and private key (if available) to a PFX (.pfx or .p12) file. The output PFX is secured using the pfxPassword. If bIncludeCertChain is true, then the certificates in the chain of authority are also included in the PFX output file.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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FindIssuer
public Cert FindIssuer();

Finds and returns the issuer certificate. If the certificate is a root or self-issued, then the certificate returned is a copy of the caller certificate. (The IsRoot property can be check to see if the certificate is a root (or self-issued) certificate.)

Returns null on failure

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GetCertChain
public CertChain GetCertChain();
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

Returns a certficate chain object containing all the certificates (including this one), in the chain of authentication to the trusted root (if possible). If this certificate object was loaded from a PFX, then the certiicates contained in the PFX are automatically available for building the certificate chain. The UseCertVault method can be called to provide additional certificates that might be required to build the cert chain. Finally, the TrustedRoots object can be used to provide a way of making trusted root certificates available.

Note: Prior to v9.5.0.50, this method would fail if the certificate chain could not be completed to the root. Starting in v9.5.0.50, the incomplete certificate chain will be returned. The certificate chain's ReachesRoot property can be examined to see if the chain was completed to the root.

On Windows systems, the registry-based certificate stores are automatically consulted if needed to locate intermediate or root certificates in the chain. Chilkat searches certificate stores in the following order. See System Store Locations for more information.

  1. Current-User "CA" Certificate Store
  2. Local-Machine "CA" Certificate Store
  3. Current-User "Root" Certificate Store
  4. Local-Machine "Root" Certificate Store
  5. Current-User "MY" Certificate Store
  6. Local-Machine "MY" Certificate Store
  7. Current-User "ADDRESSBOOK" Certificate Store (if it exists)
  8. Local-Machine "ADDRESSBOOK" Certificate Store (if it exists)

Returns null on failure

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GetEncoded
public string GetEncoded();

Returns a base64 encoded string representation of the certificate's binary DER format, which can be passed to SetFromEncoded to recreate the certificate object.

Returns null on failure

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GetExtensionAsText
public string GetExtensionAsText(string oid);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.89

Returns the certificate extension data as a string. This method should only be called for those extensions with text values NOT stored as binary ASN.1. In most cases, applications should call GetExtensionAsXml because most extensions contain ASN.1 values that need to be decoded..

Returns null on failure

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GetExtensionAsXml
public string GetExtensionAsXml(string oid);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.49

Returns the certificate extension data in XML format (converted from ASN.1). The oid is an OID, such as the ones listed here: http://www.alvestrand.no/objectid/2.5.29.html

Note: In many cases, the data within the XML is returned base64 encoded. An application may need to take one further step to base64 decode the information contained within the XML.

Returns null on failure

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GetExtensionBd
public bool GetExtensionBd(string oid, BinData bd);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

Returns the certificate extension data specified by oid in bd.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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GetPrivateKeyPem
public string GetPrivateKeyPem();

Exports the certificate's private key to a PEM string (if the private key is available).

Returns null on failure

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GetPubKeyDer
public bool GetPubKeyDer(bool preferPkcs1, BinData bd);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.92

Loads the bd with the certificate's public key in ASN.1 DER format. If the key type (such as RSA) supports both PKCS1 and PKCS8 formats, then preferPkcs1 selects which format to return.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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GetSignature
public bool GetSignature(BinData bd);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.92

Loads the bd with the certificate's signature.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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GetSpkiFingerprint
public string GetSpkiFingerprint(string hashAlg, string encoding);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.55

Returns the SPKI Fingerprint suitable for use in pinning. (See RFC 7469.) An SPKI Fingerprint is defined as the output of a known cryptographic hash algorithm whose input is the DER-encoded ASN.1 representation of the Subject Public Key Info (SPKI) of an X.509 certificate. The hashAlg specifies the hash algorithm and may be "sha256", "sha384", "sha512", "sha1", "md2", "md5", "haval", "ripemd128", "ripemd160","ripemd256", or "ripemd320". The encoding specifies the encoding, and may be "base64", "hex", or any of the encoding modes specified in the article at the link below.

Returns null on failure

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GetSubjectPart
public string GetSubjectPart(string partNameOrOid);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.85

Returns a part of the certificate's subject by name or OID. The partNameOrOid can be a part name, such as "CN", "O", "OU", "E", "S", "L", "C", or "SERIALNUMBER", or it can be an OID such as "2.5.4.3".

Returns null on failure

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GetValidFromDt
public CkDateTime GetValidFromDt();

Returns the date/time this certificate becomes (or became) valid.

Returns null on failure

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GetValidToDt
public CkDateTime GetValidToDt();

Returns the date/time this certificate becomes (or became) invalid.

Returns null on failure

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HashOf
public string HashOf(string part, string hashAlg, string encoding);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.75

Returns an encoded hash of a particular part of the certificate. The part may be one of the following:

  • IssuerDN
  • IssuerPublicKey
  • SubjectDN
  • SubjectPublicKey

The hashAlg is the name of the hash algorithm, such as "sha1", "sha256", "sha384", "sha512", "md5", etc. The encoding is the format to return, such as "hex", "base64", etc.

Returns null on failure

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HasPrivateKey
public bool HasPrivateKey();

Returns true if a private key associated with the certificate is available.

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LinkPkcs11
public bool LinkPkcs11(Pkcs11 session);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

Links to the certificate's private key located on an HSM (smart card, token, or cloud HSM). Once linked, the certificate can be used for signing where the signing occurs on the HSM. See the example below for more detailed information.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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LoadByCommonName
public bool LoadByCommonName(string cn);

(Relevant only when running on a Microsoft Windows operating system.) Searches the Windows Local Machine and Current User registry-based certificate stores for a certificate having the common name specified. If found, the certificate is loaded and ready for use.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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LoadByEmailAddress
public bool LoadByEmailAddress(string emailAddress);

(Relevant only when running on a Microsoft Windows operating system.) Searches the Windows Local Machine and Current User registry-based certificate stores for a certificate containing the email address specified. If found, the certificate is loaded and ready for use.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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LoadByIssuerAndSerialNumber
public bool LoadByIssuerAndSerialNumber(string issuerCN, string serialNumber);

(Relevant only when running on a Microsoft Windows operating system.) Searches the Windows Local Machine and Current User registry-based certificate stores for a certificate matching the issuerCN and having an issuer matching the serialNumber. If found, the certificate is loaded and ready for use.

Note: The hex serial number should be uppercase. Starting in Chilkat v9.5.0.88, the hex serial number is case-insensitive.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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LoadBySubjectOid
public bool LoadBySubjectOid(string oid, string value);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.85

(Relevant only when running on a Microsoft Windows operating system.) Searches the Windows Local Machine and Current User registry-based certificate stores for a certificate containing a subject part matching the oid and value.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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LoadByThumbprint
public bool LoadByThumbprint(string thumbprint, string encoding);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.83

(Relevant only when running on a Microsoft Windows operating system.) Searches the Windows Local Machine and Current User registry-based certificate stores for a certificate having an MD5 or SHA1 thumbprint equal to the thumbprint. The hash (i.e. thumbprint) is passed as a string using the encoding specified by encoding (such as "base64", "hex", etc.).

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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LoadFromBase64
public bool LoadFromBase64(string encodedCert);

Loads an ASN.1 or DER encoded certificate represented in a Base64 string.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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LoadFromBd
public bool LoadFromBd(BinData certBytes);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.70

Loads an X.509 certificate from data contained in certBytes.

Note: The certBytes may contain the certificate in any format. It can be binary DER (ASN.1), PEM, Base64, etc. Chilkat will automatically detect the format.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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LoadFromBinary
public bool LoadFromBinary(byte[] data);

Loads an X.509 certificate from ASN.1 DER encoded bytes.

Note: The data may contain the certificate in any format. It can be binary DER (ASN.1), PEM, Base64, etc. Chilkat will automatically detect the format.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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LoadFromFile
public bool LoadFromFile(string path);

Loads a certificate from a .cer, .crt, .p7b, or .pem file. This method accepts certificates from files in any of the following formats:
1. DER encoded binary X.509 (.CER)
2. Base-64 encoded X.509 (.CER)
3. Cryptographic Message Syntax Standard - PKCS #7 Certificates (.P7B)
4. PEM format
This method decodes the certificate based on the contents if finds within the file, and not based on the file extension. If your certificate is in a file having a different extension, try loading it using this method before assuming it won't work. This method does not load .p12 or .pfx (PKCS #12) files.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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LoadFromSmartcard
public bool LoadFromSmartcard(string certSpec);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.77

Important: It's important to set the SmartCardPin property before calling this method.

Loads a certificate and its associated private key (if available) from a connected USB token or smart card. This function works on Windows, Linux, MacOS, iOS, and Alpine Linux. If multiple USB tokens and/or smartcards are connected to the system, then each will be searched and the first matching certificate will be loaded.

The certSpec can have the following formats and values:

  • Empty String: Passing the empty string is the most common way to call this function. Pass the empty string when only one HSM (USB token or smart card) is connected to the system, and it contains only one certificate with a private key. The HSM can contain other certificates, but Chilkat will automatically choose and load the certificate that has the associated private key also located on the HSM.
  • cn=<cert subject common name>: Finds and loads the certificate having the specified subject common name (CN).
  • subjectdn_withtags=<distinguished name with tags>: Finds and loads the certificate having the specified DN with tags. For example, subjectdn_withtags=C=US, O=Example Corporation, OU=IT Department, CN=www.example.com
  • subjectdn=<distinguished name without tags>: Finds and loads the certificate having the specified DN without tags. For example, subjectdn=US, California, San Francisco, Example Corp, Engineering, www.example.com, [email protected]
  • issuercn=<subject hex serial:issuer common name>: Finds and loads the certificate having the specified hex serial number and an issuer with the specified common name. For example, "01020304: Let's Encrypt Authority X1"
  • serial=<hex serial number>: Finds and loads the certificate having the specified hexidecimal serial number.
  • thumbprint=<hex SHA1 thumbprint>: Finds and loads the certificate having the specified hexidecimal SHA1 thumbprint.
  • policyoid=<certificate policy OID>: Finds and loads the certificate having a policy OID equal to the specified value, such as 2.16.840.1.101.2.1.11.39.
  • o=<subject organization>: Finds and loads the certificate having the "O" subject part equal to the specified value.
  • c=<subject country>: Finds and loads the certificate having the "C" subject part equal to the specified value.
  • l=<subject locality>: Finds and loads the certificate having the "L" subject part equal to the specified value.
  • ou=<subject organizational unit>: Finds and loads the certificate having the "OU" subject part equal to the specified value.
  • st=<subject state>: Finds and loads the certificate having the "ST" subject part equal to the specified value.
  • e=<subject email>: Finds and loads the certificate having the "E" subject part equal to the specified value.

On Windows systems, certSpec can specify a CSP (Cryptographic Service Provider) name, such as "YubiHSM Key Storage Provider." This option is retained for legacy support, as Chilkat initially handled USB tokens and smartcards only on Windows via CSPs. Chilkat now supports HSMs across multiple platforms (Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Alpine Linux) and uses various methods to communicate with HSMs, including PKCS11, macOS Keychain services, Windows ScMinidriver, MsCNG, and legacy Windows CryptoAPI. Chilkat automatically detects the HSM make/model and selects the optimal communication method.

Some possible CSP values are:

  • Microsoft Smart Card Key Storage Provider
  • Microsoft Base Smart Card Crypto Provider
  • Bit4id Universal Middleware Provider
  • YubiHSM Key Storage Provider (starting in v9.5.0.83)
  • SafeSign Standard Cryptographic Service Provider
  • SafeSign Standard RSA and AES Cryptographic Service Provider
  • eToken Base Cryptographic Provider
  • cryptoCertum3 CSP
  • FTSafe ePass1000 RSA Cryptographic Service Provider
  • SecureStoreCSP
  • EnterSafe ePass2003 CSP v2.0
  • Gemalto Classic Card CSP
  • PROXKey CSP India V1.0
  • PROXKey CSP India V2.0
  • TRUST KEY CSP V1.0
  • Watchdata Brazil CSP V1.0
  • Luna Cryptographic Services for Microsoft Windows
  • Luna SChannel Cryptographic Services for Microsoft Windows
  • Safenet RSA Full Cryptographic Provider
  • nCipher Enhanced Cryptographic Provider
  • MySmartLogon NFC CSP
  • NFC Connector Enterprise
  • ActivClient Cryptographic Service Provider
  • EnterSafe ePass2003 CSP v1.0
  • Oberthur Card Systems Cryptographic Provider
  • Athena ASECard Crypto CSP
  • many others...

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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LoadPem
public bool LoadPem(string strPem);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.49

Loads the certificate from a PEM string.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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LoadPfxBd
public bool LoadPfxBd(BinData pfxData, string password);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.70

Loads the certificate from the PFX contained in pfxData. Note: If the PFX contains multiple certificates, the 1st certificate in the PFX is loaded.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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LoadPfxData
public bool LoadPfxData(byte[] pfxData, string password);

Loads a PFX from an in-memory image of a PFX file. Note: If the PFX contains multiple certificates, the 1st certificate in the PFX is loaded.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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LoadPfxFile
public bool LoadPfxFile(string pfxPath, string password);

Loads a PFX file. Note: If the PFX contains multiple certificates, the 1st certificate in the PFX is loaded.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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LoadTaskResult
public bool LoadTaskResult(Task task);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.52

Loads the certificate from a completed asynchronous task.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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PemFileToDerFile
public bool PemFileToDerFile(string fromPath, string toPath);

Converts a PEM file to a DER file.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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SaveToFile
public bool SaveToFile(string path);

Saves a certificate object to a .cer file.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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SetCloudSigner
public bool SetCloudSigner(JsonObject json);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

Provides information for a cloud signing service to do the signing via a remote signing server. Current supported services are AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault, and ARSS (Aruba Remote Signing Service). See the examples below.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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SetCloudSignerAsync (.NET Core C#) (C#) (Mono C#) (PowerShell)
public Task SetCloudSignerAsync(JsonObject json);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

Creates an asynchronous task to call the SetCloudSigner method with the arguments provided. (Async methods are available starting in Chilkat v9.5.0.52.)

Note: Async method event callbacks happen in the background thread. Accessing and updating UI elements existing in the main thread may require special considerations.

Returns null on failure

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SetFromEncoded
public bool SetFromEncoded(string encodedCert);

Initializes the certificate object from a base64 encoded string representation of the certificate's binary DER format.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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SetPrivateKey
public bool SetPrivateKey(PrivateKey privKey);

Used to associate a private key with the certificate for subsequent (PKCS7) signature creation or decryption.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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SetPrivateKeyPem
public bool SetPrivateKeyPem(string privKeyPem);

Same as SetPrivateKey, but the key is provided in unencrypted PEM format. (Note: The privKeyPem is not a file path, it is the actual PEM text.)

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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UploadToCloud
public bool UploadToCloud(JsonObject jsonIn, JsonObject jsonOut);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

This is an open-ended method to accomodate uploading the private key to a cloud service, such as AWS KMS, or Azure Key Vault. For details, see the examples below.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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UploadToCloudAsync (.NET Core C#) (C#) (Mono C#) (PowerShell)
public Task UploadToCloudAsync(JsonObject jsonIn, JsonObject jsonOut);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

Creates an asynchronous task to call the UploadToCloud method with the arguments provided. (Async methods are available starting in Chilkat v9.5.0.52.)

Note: Async method event callbacks happen in the background thread. Accessing and updating UI elements existing in the main thread may require special considerations.

Returns null on failure

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UseCertVault
public bool UseCertVault(XmlCertVault vault);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

Adds an XML certificate vault to the object's internal list of sources to be searched for certificates for help in building certificate chains and verifying the certificate signature to the trusted root.

Returns true for success, false for failure.

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VerifySignature
public bool VerifySignature();
Introduced in version 9.5.0.40

Verifies the certificate signature, as well as the signatures of all certificates in the chain of authentication to the trusted root. Returns true if all signatures are verified to the trusted root. Otherwise returns false.

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X509PKIPathv1
public string X509PKIPathv1();
Introduced in version 9.5.0.77

Returns the base64 representation of an X509PKIPathv1 containing just the calling certificate. This is typically used in an X.509 Binary Security Token. It is a PKIPath that contains an ordered list of X.509 public certificates packaged in a PKIPath. The X509PKIPathv1 token type may be used to represent a certificate path. (This is sometimes used in XAdES signatures.)

Returns null on failure

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Events

AbortCheck
public event AbortCheckEventHandler OnAbortCheck;

Provides the opportunity for a method call to be aborted. The AbortCheck event is fired periodically based on the value of the HeartbeatMs property. If HeartbeatMs is 0, then no AbortCheck events will fire. As an example, to fire 5 AbortCheck events per second, set the HeartbeatMs property equal to 200.

Chilkat .NET Event Implementation

Args are passed using Chilkat.AbortCheckEventArgs

Event callback implementation:

private void cert_OnAbortCheck(object sender, Chilkat.AbortCheckEventArgs args)
	{
	    // application code goes here.
	}

To add an event handler:

Chilkat.Cert cert = new Chilkat.Cert();
cert.OnAbortCheck += cert_OnAbortCheck;

Chilkat Mono/.NET Core Event Implementation

Event callback implementation:

public void handleAbortCheck(out bool abort)
	{
	    // application code goes here.
	}

To add an event handler:

Chilkat.Cert cert = new Chilkat.Cert();
// ...
Chilkat.Cert.AbortCheck abortCheck = new Chilkat.Cert.AbortCheck(handleAbortCheck);
cert.setAbortCheckCb(abortCheck);
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PercentDone
public event PercentDoneEventHandler OnPercentDone;

Provides the percentage completed for any method that involves network communications or time-consuming processing (assuming it is a method where a percentage completion can be measured). This event is only fired when it is possible to know a percentage completion, and when it makes sense to express the operation as a percentage completed. The pctDone argument will have a value from 1 to 100. For operations (Chilkat method calls) that complete very quickly, the number of PercentDone callbacks will vary, but the final callback should have a value of 100. For long running operations, no more than one callback per percentage point will occur (for example: 1, 2, 3, ... 98, 99, 100).

The PercentDone callback counts as an AbortCheck event. For method calls that complete quickly such that PercentDone events fire, it may be that AbortCheck events don't fire because the opportunity to abort is already provided in the PercentDone callback. For time consuming operations, where the amount of time between PercentDone callbacks are long, AbortCheck callbacks may be used to allow for the operation to be aborted in a more responsive manner.

The abort output argument provides a means for aborting the operation. Setting it to true will cause the method to abort and return a failed status (or whatever return value indicates failure).

Chilkat .NET Event Implementation

Args are passed using Chilkat.PercentDoneEventArgs

Event callback implementation:

private void cert_OnPercentDone(object sender, Chilkat.PercentDoneEventArgs args)
	{
	    // application code goes here.
	}

To add an event handler:

Chilkat.Cert cert = new Chilkat.Cert();
cert.OnPercentDone += cert_OnPercentDone;

Chilkat Mono/.NET Core Event Implementation

Event callback implementation:

public void handlePercentDone(int pctDone, out bool abort)
	{
	    // application code goes here.
	}

To add an event handler:

Chilkat.Cert cert = new Chilkat.Cert();
// ...
Chilkat.Cert.PercentDone percentDone = new Chilkat.Cert.PercentDone(handlePercentDone);
cert.setPercentDoneCb(percentDone);
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ProgressInfo
public event ProgressInfoEventHandler OnProgressInfo;

A general name/value event that provides information about what is happening during a method call. To find out what information is available, write code to handle this event and log the name/value pairs. Most are self-explanatory.

Chilkat .NET Event Implementation

Args are passed using Chilkat.ProgressInfoEventArgs

Event callback implementation:

private void cert_OnProgressInfo(object sender, Chilkat.ProgressInfoEventArgs args)
	{
	    // application code goes here.
	}

To add an event handler:

Chilkat.Cert cert = new Chilkat.Cert();
cert.OnProgressInfo += cert_OnProgressInfo;

Chilkat Mono/.NET Core Event Implementation

Event callback implementation:

public void handleProgressInfo(string name, string value)
	{
	    // application code goes here.
	}

To add an event handler:

Chilkat.Cert cert = new Chilkat.Cert();
// ...
Chilkat.Cert.ProgressInfo progressInfo = new Chilkat.Cert.ProgressInfo(handleProgressInfo);
cert.setProgressInfoCb(progressInfo);
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TaskCompleted
public event TaskCompletedEventHandler OnTaskCompleted;

Called in the background thread when an asynchronous task completes.

Chilkat .NET Event Implementation

Args are passed using Chilkat.TaskCompletedEventArgs

Event callback implementation:

private void cert_OnTaskCompleted(object sender, Chilkat.TaskCompletedEventArgs args)
	{
	    // application code goes here.
	}

To add an event handler:

Chilkat.Cert cert = new Chilkat.Cert();
cert.OnTaskCompleted += cert_OnTaskCompleted;

Chilkat Mono/.NET Core Event Implementation

Event callback implementation:

public void handleTaskIdCompleted(int taskId)
	{
	    // application code goes here.
	}

To add an event handler:

Chilkat.Cert cert = new Chilkat.Cert();
// ...
Chilkat.Cert.TaskIdCompleted taskIdCompleted = new Chilkat.Cert.TaskIdCompleted(handleTaskIdCompleted);
cert.setTaskIdCompletedCb(taskIdCompleted);
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