Subject: SNACC ASN.1 Freeware (was RE: ASN.1 Notation)

From: "Pawling, John" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 14:55:11 -0500

Tony,

The DER-enhanced SNACC ASN.1 freeware is freely available to everyone at
J.G. Van Dyke and Associates' (VDA) S/MIME Freeware Library (SFL) web page
(http://www.jgvandyke.com/services/infosec/sfl.htm).  The snacc1_5VDA.zip
file contains the SNACC v1.3 rev 0.07 ASN.1 Compiler and Library source code
compilable for Unix and MS Windows NT/95/98.  The C++ version of SNACC has
been enhanced by VDA to implement the Distinguished Encoding Rules.  Project
files and makefiles are included.  This file also includes a sample test
project demonstrating the use of the SNACC classes.  SNACC implements the
majority of ASN.1 encoding/decoding rules.  SNACC does not support all of
the latest ASN.1 features, but there are work-arounds that allow SNACC to
be used to produce ASN.1 hex encodings that are identical to those 
produced by ASN.1 libraries that do support the latest ASN.1 features.  
Also note that many of the PKIX specs, such as RFC 2459, include 
1988-compliant ASN.1 syntax modules which can be directly compiled using
SNACC.

We are currently enhancing the C and C++ versions of the SNACC library
to support PrintableString, TeletexString, NumericString, IA5String, 
VisibileString, BMPString, UniversalString, and UTF8String.  We are 
adding an optional function that will be used to convert ASN.1 OCTET
STRINGs to single- and multi-byte character strings.  This is needed
to support the RFC 2459 PKIX requirements.  The SNACC library will
decode an object as it always has.  If the app/library needs the 
ASN.1 OCTET STRINGs converted to character strings, then it will 
call an additional SNACC function/class to perform the conversion.
The SNACC enhancement is being made to minimize the impact to 
existing code that uses SNACC.  If an app/library does not need 
the ASN.1 OCTET STRINGs converted, then it will not call the 
conversion function/classes and will use the SNACC-generated 
structures/classes as always.  We expect to have the enhanced
SNACC compiler and library delivered by 24 March 2000.

As part of the SFL <http://www.armadillo.huntsville.al.us/software/smime>, 
VDA is using SNACC to implement the S/MIME v3 set of specs.  VDA is also 
enhancing the freeware Certificate Management Library
(http://www.armadillo.huntsville.al.us/software/certmgmt/index.html) that
uses SNACC to implement the 1997 X.509 Recommendation.

The SNACC ASN.1 library is totally unencumbered as documented in the
following excerpt from the SFL Public License. 

"+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

           SNACC Abstract Syntax Notation.1 (ASN.1) Software 

The SNACC ASN.1 software is composed of the SNACC Compiler and the SNACC 
Library.  The SNACC Compiler is covered by the attached GNU General 
Public License (GPL).  The GPL states that the subject software may be 
freely distributed if the distributor: provides all source code for the
subject software; does not charge for the use of the subject software; 
and provides a copy of the GPL along with the subject software. The 
SNACC Library software is completely unencumbered.  None of the GNU 
public licenses apply to the SNACC Library.

Under contract to the U.S. Government, J.G. Van Dyke and Associates, Inc
(VDA), has made enhancements to the SNACC Compiler and Library.  VDA 
has clearly marked all enhancements made to the SNACC Compiler as 
required by the GNU GPL.  The SFL Public License applies to the 
enhancements that VDA has made to the SNACC Compiler and Library. 
VDA has met the requirements of the GNU GPL including: providing all
source code for the enhanced SNACC Compiler; freely
distributing the enhanced SNACC Compiler; and providing a copy of the 
GPL along with the enhanced SNACC Compiler. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++"

The GNU General Public License can be retrieved from
http://www.fsf.org/copyleft/gpl.html.  The SFL public license can be
retrieved from the aforementioned VDA SFL web page.

============================================
John Pawling, Director - Systems Engineering
J.G. Van Dyke & Associates, Inc;
a Wang Government Services Company
[email-masked]
============================================ 

-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Bartoletti [mailto:[email-masked]]
Sent: Monday, March 13, 2000 2:40 PM
To: Timothy Fisher; Massimiliano Pala
Cc: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: ASN.1 Notation

As long as the subject is at hand...

Are there any open-source ASN.1 compilers available?

___tony___

At 02:19 PM 03/13/2000 -0800, Timothy Fisher wrote:
>The "laymans guide to ASN1" on the RSA website is an excellent doc.
>This contains all the information that you should need to understand
>and use the ASN1 stuff for info security purposes.
>
>Tim
>
>Massimiliano Pala wrote:
> > 
> > Hi all,
> > 
> > I have a simple question about the ASN.1. Are there available free
> > ASN.1 docs available on the net ???
> > 
> > C'you,
> > 
> >         Massimiliano Pala ([email-masked])

Tony Bartoletti 925-422-3881 <[email-masked]>
Information Operations, Warfare and Assurance Center
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Livermore, CA 94551-9900