CK_CHAR vs CK_BYTE in PKCS#11?

Question

Does PKCS#11 intend CK_CHAR and CK_BYTE to have identical semantics, or is CK_CHAR intended to imply printability?

The standard PKCS#11 type header defines CK_CHAR in terms of CK_BYTE and says "character" instead of "value":

/* an unsigned 8-bit value */
typedef unsigned char     CK_BYTE;

/* an unsigned 8-bit character */
typedef CK_BYTE           CK_CHAR;

Does this guarantee that every CK_CHAR (and array of CK_CHARs) is within the printable range?

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 10 '20 at 21:34

0

Answering my own question: section 1.3, table 3 of PKCS#11v2.40 establishes that CK_CHAR is always printable (in ANSI C encoding, which is ASCII).

answered Apr 10 '20 at 21:34

yossarian

Don't forget the CK_UTF8CHAR. – Alexander Apr 11 '20 at 05:41
Yep; the standard is much more explicit about that being printable (or more generally human consumable). – yossarian Apr 12 '20 at 01:57

1 Answers1