OpenCard Framework 1.2 Programmer's Guide - OpenSCDP

FileAccessCardService is OpenCard’s abstraction for dealing with smart card based
files. It offers a high-level interface modelled after JAVA’s java.io package, making
it virtually unnecessary for you to understand the nitty-gritty details of those
standards.
SignatureCardService
Electronic signatures of data rely on cryptographic mechanisms that make use of
cryptographic key information to perform their operation. A common scheme for
signing data is the use of public key algorithms like RSA, which involves a key pair
consisting of a private and a public key. Probably the most important application of
smart cards is and will be their ability to serve both as a container for key (in
particular, private key) information and as a processor for performing the
cryptographic signing operation. In other words, the signature generation can be
performed without the sensitive key information ever leaving the tamper-proof
smart card.
SignatureCardService is a simple abstraction for the import, verification, and
export of key information as well as for the generation and verification of digital
signatures generated using a public key algorithm like RSA.
AppletAccessCardService and AppletManagerCardService
Smart cards can offer multi-function capabilities, i.e. a single card can support
several applications. Accordingly, smart card applications will have to face
situations where cards of the same or different type will host diverse sets of
applets. There might even be smart card applets intended for the installation of
new or removal of existing card-resident applets. It might also be necessary to
suspend certain card-resident applets for a period of time. At the least, a smart
card aware card-external application should be capable of finding out what
card-resident applets a particular card hosts and presenting the card-holder a
choice from which to select.
In order to address these requirements, card issuers who decide what applications
are deployed or planned to be deployed with their cards put additional
meta-information in the card that card-external applications can access to find out
about - and, if necessary, change - the situation in any particular card.
These functions are handled by two card services: AppletAccessCardService and
AppletManagerCardService. AppletAccessCardService is capable of listing
applications, while AppletManagerCardService defines a high-level API through
which applications can install and remove, card-resident applets in an issuer
independent manner.
Chapter 3. OCF architectural concepts 15