25 February 2002


Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 15:39:16 -0500 (EST)
From: "Pawling, John" <John.Pawling@GetronicsGov.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <pki-twg@nist.gov>
Subject: v1.3 R8 Enhanced SNACC Freeware Now Available

Getronics Government Solutions has delivered the v1.3 R8 Enhanced SNACC Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1) Compiler, C++ library and C library source code compilable for Linux, Sun Solaris 2.8 and Microsoft (MS) Windows NT/98/2000/XP.  The Enhanced SNACC software is freely available to everyone from:

http://www.getronicsgov.com/hot/snacc_home.htm

The v1.3 R8 Enhanced SNACC release fixes bugs present in the v1.3 R7 release. The Enhanced SNACC ASN.1 software can be used to ASN.1 encode and decode objects.  In past releases, Getronics enhanced the original SNACC ASN.1  C++ library to implement the Distinguished Encoding Rules (DER), support large ASN.1 INTEGERs, and improve memory usage.   

v1.3 R8 Enhanced SNACC ASN.1 Library enhancements (compared to v1.3 R7):

1) Fixed bug in processing of BMP strings on UNIX platforms. 

2) Removed dependencies on SNACC config.h in distributed includes/libs.

3) Developed a test driver and successfully tested the Enhanced SNACC C ASN.1 Library.  We corrected bugs in the C Library DER code. 

4) Corrected bug in sm_vdasnacc.cpp (line 303) regarding setting the length value for indefinite length decodings.

5) Corrected AsnOcts to use inherited CSM_Buffer Length() member function instead of AsnOcts maintaining it's own length data member. 

6) Corrected memory management bug in AsnOid::PutChar in asn-oid.cpp.

7) Tested with v2.0.1 S/MIME Freeware Library (SFL)

http://www.getronicsgov.com/hot/sfl_home.htm

that uses the Enhanced SNACC ASN.1 software to encode and decode the IETF S/MIME v3 Cryptographic Message Syntax (RFC 2630) and Enhanced Security Services for S/MIME (RFC 2634) security protocol. 

8) Tested with freeware v2.0.1 Certificate Management Library (CML)

http://www.getronicsgov.com/hot/cml_home.htm

that uses the Enhanced SNACC ASN.1 software to encode and decode X.509 certificates, attribute certificates and Certificate Revocation Lists as specified in the 2000 X.509 Recommendation.

9) Tested with freeware v2.0.1 Access Control Library (ACL)

http://www.getronicsgov.com/hot/acl_home.htm

that uses the Enhanced SNACC ASN.1 software to encode and decode security labels and other objects (such as Security Policy Information Files) required to provide rule based automated access control as specified in SDN.801.

The aforementioned bug fixes improved the multi-threaded performance of the Enhanced SNACC ASN.1 C++ Library.

The Enhanced SNACC ASN.1 software implements the majority of the ASN.1 encoding/decoding rules as specified in the 1988 X.209 Recommendation.  It implements the DER as specified in the 1994 X.690 Recommendation.  It does not support all of the latest ASN.1features, but there are strategies that allow it to be used to produce ASN.1 hex encodings that are identical to those produced byASN.1 libraries that do support the latest ASN.1 features.  Also note that many of the PKIX specs, such as RFC 2459 and RFC 2630, include 1988-compliant ASN.1 syntax modules which can be compiled using the Enhanced SNACC compiler.

The Enhanced SNACC ASN.1 library is totally unencumbered as stated in the Enhanced SNACC Software Public License.  All source code for the Enhanced SNACC software is being provided at no cost and with no financial limitations regarding its use and distribution. Organizations can use the Enhanced SNACC software without paying

any royalties or licensing fees. 

The Internet Mail Consortium (IMC) has established an Enhanced SNACC web page

http://www.imc.org/imc-snacc/

The IMC has established an Enhanced SNACC mail list which is used to: distribute information regarding Enhanced SNACC releases; discuss related issues; and provide a means for integrators to provide feedback, comments, bug reports, etc.  Subscription information for the imc-snacc mail list is at the IMC web site listed above.

We welcome all feedback regarding the Enhanced SNACC software. If bugs are reported, then we will investigate each reported bug and, if required, will produce a patch or an updated release of the software to repair the bug.

This release announcement was sent to several mail lists, but please send all messages regarding the Enhanced SNACC software to the imc-snacc mail list ONLY.  Please do not send messages regarding the Enhanced SNACC software to any of the IETF mail lists.  We will respond to all messages sent to theimc-snacc mail list.

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John Pawling, John.Pawling@GetronicsGov.com
Getronics Government Solutions, LLC

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