Signature Object

SignatureSet Signature

Corresponds to a digital signature that is attached to a document. Signature objects are contained in the SignatureSet collection of the Document object.

Using the Signature object

You can add a Signature object to a SignatureSet collection using the Add method and you can return an existing member using the Item method. To remove a Signature from a SignatureSet collection, use the Delete method of the Signature object.

The following example prompts the user to select a digital signature with which to sign the active document in Microsoft Word. To use this example, open a document in Word and pass this function the name of a certificate issuer and the name of a certificate signer that match the Issued By and Issued To fields of a digital certificate in the Digital Certificates dialog box. This example will test to make sure that the digital signature that the user selects meets certain criteria, such as not having expired, before the new signature is committed to the disk.

Function AddSignature(ByVal strIssuer As String, _
    strSigner As String) As Boolean

    On Error GoTo Error_Handler

    Dim sig As Signature

    'Display the dialog box that lets the
    'user select a digital signature.
    'If the user selects a signature, then
    'it is added to the Signatures
    'collection. If the user doesn't, then
    'an error is returned.
    Set sig = ActiveDocument.Signatures.Add

    'Test several properties before commiting the Signature object to disk.
    If sig.Issuer = strIssuer And _
        sig.Signer = strSigner And _
        sig.IsCertificateExpired = False And _
        sig.IsCertificateRevoked = False And _
        sig.IsValid = True Then

        MsgBox "Signed"
        AddSignature = True
    'Otherwise, remove the Signature object from the SignatureSet collection.
    Else
        sig.Delete
        MsgBox "Not signed"
        AddSignature = False
    End If

    'Commit all signatures in the SignatureSet collection to the disk.
    ActiveDocument.Signatures.Commit

    Exit Function
Error_Handler:
    AddSignature = False
    MsgBox "Action cancelled."
End Function

Properties | Application Property | AttachCertificate Property | Creator Property | ExpireDate Property | IsCertificateExpired Property | IsCertificateRevoked Property | Issuer Property | IsValid Property | Parent Property | SignDate Property | Signer Property

Methods | Delete Method

Parent Objects | SignatureSet Collection

Child Objects