Microsoft's CryptoAPI - thoughts?

What does everyone think about this? Perhaps I already missed the boat, but
I just found out about it. How would international apps work? Would a data
file encrypted with an app compiled with a US-only CSP (cryptographic
service provider) be able to be loaded by a European equivalent app?

[Info can be found at: http://www.microsoft.com/intdev/inttech/cryptapi.htm]


--
rickt@psa.pencom.com
egalitarian, philosopher, unix cowboy, '68 chevy pickup hacker

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rickt@psa.pencom.com writes:
> [Info can be found at: http://www.microsoft.com/intdev/inttech/cryptapi.htm]

Has someone here managed to extract PostScript hardcopy of the CAPI from this
Web page? I tried earlier this evening and wound up with a miniature 
ecological disaster on my hands. The page says:

"For ease of online reading and printing, we've provided copies of this
lengthy document in Microsoft Word and Postscript formats."

I grabbed the ZIPped PostScript version and unZIPped it, which resulted in a
single file called "capiapp.ps". Making the wild assumption that this was
indeed a PostScript file, I sent it to the printer and forgot about it for a
while. 

An hour later I discovered a chaotic scene in the printer room, as the
printer had spewed about 1.5 reams of raw PostScript printouts. The output bin
had overflowed for a while, spraying paper in several directions. <heavy sigh>

As it turns out, the file unhelpfully begins with 
	%-12345X@JPL ENTER LANGUAGE=POSTSCRIPT
preceding the usual "%!PS-Adobe-3.0" line. Worse still, it appears that the
capiapp.ps file is actually a catenation of many PostScript files (one per
chapter?), each beginning with a version of this ensnarling line.

I could do some global search-and-replacing, etc., but I think I'll wait for
Microsoft to distribute a decent PS version of this document. Perhaps they
should consider not generating it with MS Word....

Grr! 

Futplex <futplex@pseudonym.com>

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On Fri, 26 Jan 1996 03:02:56 -0500 (EST), Futplex wrote:

> Has someone here managed to extract PostScript hardcopy of the CAPI from this
> Web page? I tried earlier this evening and wound up with a miniature 
> ecological disaster on my hands. The page says:

No problem on a LaserJet 4M.



> "For ease of online reading and printing, we've provided copies of this
> lengthy document in Microsoft Word and Postscript formats."

I tried printing the Word version from WordView, also, and ran into
major problems.  It absolutely insisted on setting the printer to
manual feed, and when I tried to print the odd-numbered pages,
WordView crashed complletely.

> Worse still, it appears that the
> capiapp.ps file is actually a catenation of many PostScript files (one per
> chapter?), each beginning with a version of this ensnarling line.

Maybe that's why I couldn't extract odd & even-numbered pages.