xml

Back in March, I wrote about the open standards basis of Lotus Forms documents. This entry included comments on the use of the XML Signatures standard in combination with XForms within the XFDL markup of Lotus Forms.

Now I'd like to draw your attention to a developerWorks article we've now published on the technical details of Verifying Lotus Forms XML Signatures with Java. This article explains how a JSR 105 compliant implementation, such as can be found in the Apache security library or in Java 6, can be used validate the XML signatures created by the Lotus Forms client software (either the Web Form Server or the client-side Forms Viewer plugin).

Generally, a Lotus Forms document consolidates the client-side of the business process function. This could be a many-step process for an individual or it could be a process that spans many individuals who are collaborating to perform a business transaction. Applying an XML signature on a Lotus Form protects the markup of the consolidated client experience, not just the transactional data created by users. Users don't "see" the XML markup of data for a transaction. They visually see (or aurally sense with accessibility software) the whole "contract" that gives context to the data content. An XML signature applied by Lotus Forms client software signs the whole agreement. The above mentioned article explains how open standards based software can be used to complete the server-side function of validating the XML signatures in order to secure the transactions of a business process. Since Lotus Forms are XML documents based on XForms, this means that the entire business process workflow on a Lotus Form can be achieved with open standards based software.