Project Provider INI File Signer Tool

[David_L]

The Project Provider INI File Signer is a command line application for signing INI Files for Third Party Project Providers.  INIFileSigner.exe must be called from the command line (or from LabVIEW using "System Exec.vi") with the following parameters:

IniFileSigner -in filename_in -out filename_out [-v]

  -in filename_in   : full path to an input file

  -out filename_out : full path to the signed output file

  -v : verbose mode

An example VI (Provider INI Signer.vi) has also been provided to easily sign your INI files from LabVIEW.  To use this VI simply run it and then choose an INI file or directory in the path control.  If a path is selected, the program will sign all INI files in this directory.  If "Overwrite Original File" is true, the tool will sign the INI file in place.  Otherwise it will create a second copy of the INI File with "_signed" appended to the file name.  Finally click "Sign" to sign the INI files that are listed in the "Files to sign" array.  Note that you can change the file name of the INI file without needing to resign, but changing the contents of the file will break the signature.

Known Issue:

• If you call the exe with -in and -out as the same file name, the INI file will be destroyed.  Please use a different input and output file name when using this tool.  The "Provider INI Signer" VI handles this problem by creating a signed copy and then renaming it to overwrite the original.

Important Note:

The LabVIEW Project Provider framework is an unsupported feature of LabVIEW. The only documentation for it exists in this community group, and it is community supported only. While NI has no plans to modify or break the existing APIs, there is no guarantee that all features will work in future versions of LabVIEW. Please use at your own risk.

[vishots.com]

This is awesome David! A step in the right direction.

[David_L]

Thanks, I hope it helps!

[McQuillan]

Hello Team,

I hope someone is still looking at these threads, I need to have the INI file signed, but to do so I need a licence. However, when sending labviewpartnerprogram@ni.com an email I get a failure reply.

Please, can someone tell me what I need to do to activate the signer?

[Hooovahh]

I don't work for NI, but the INI signing algorithm has been discussed publicly over on LAVA.  If NI doesn't get you the support you need you can try signing it yourself.

[McQuillan]

Thanks Hooovahh,

Using the information from the LAVA page I was able to write a really simple VI that creates the signature - tested and working 🙂

I would appreciate it if someone from NI would comment to say if people are now freely allowed to sign their own ini files?

The end result is the same, but I would like to play by the rules - NI made this licence for a reason... I'm just not sure what that was.

UPDATE:

From the FAQ page:

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How do I sign my INI files so my provider is registered with LabVIEW?

All INI files must be individually signed in order to be recognized in LabVIEW as a valid project provider.  You may now use the Project Provider INI File Signer Tool to sign your own INI files. 

Note:  Any changes to the INI file after being signed will require it to be signed again.

I'm going to take this as - 'Sure, sign it yourself'. As I couldn't get theirs working, find attached my implementation. 

[RDR]

Hey Tom,

I didn't have an issue when using the signing tool attached above, but I believe an older version of the tool did require having a license to sign...perhaps there is an error in the INI you're signing and the license error is erroneous. Are you sure you have the latest .zip from us (attached above) and does it work when signing the sample INI provided with the tool?

Also, yes. Sign away on your providers!

-RDR

[David_L]

Hey there,

So I've mentioned this elsewhere before (but never got around to fixing it since I don't work with LabVIEW as much as I used to) but what you're seeing is likely not an issue with licenses, even though the error message says so.  The bonehead who created the INI SIgner tool (me) manually caught any error with the signer EXE and assumed it was a license issue.  When we removed the need for a license, I never changed the VI to handle this error correctly (see? bonehead) and now any error returned from the EXE says there's a license issue.  My recommendation is to debug the signer VI and see what output is actually being returned from the System Exec call, and you'll likely find that there's some other issue.  I believe the last time this came up, it was something to do with calling the VI from a project vs calling it from 'Main Application Instance' which caused the file to not be found in the right place.  

Someone should REALLY fix that stupid bug <cough>RDR</cough> 

Good luck!

[Hooovahh]

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@David_L wrote:

Someone should REALLY fix that stupid bug <cough>RDR</cough> 

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Well that or just have NI hire the hacker that reversed the signing process and created and published a tool that NI wasn't fully able to 

Spoiler

Okay that was a joke I know NI's process of releasing something goes through more of a validation process, and has more hoops to jump through than someone uploading a zip that signs these INI keys.  But still I was impressed when I first saw that post.

[flarn2006]

Glad I could help 🙂