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MS Office Forum / Word / Programming / January 2007Word removing digital signature
Hi all, I have a Word document (nb doc not dot) that is signed with a digitial signature (real one not selfcert) but I'm getting reports that in some instances when the document is saved (either manually or with autosave) this error message is coming up: You have modified a signed project. You do not have the correct key to sign this project. The signature will be discarded. So it would appear that somehow the VB project in my document is becoming 'dirty' so when the save event happens because the user doesn't have the certificate it's being stripped by Word, which is obviously a fairly significant problem. Things is I've no idea what is happening to cause this (my users aren't touching the VBE). There's no code that should be affecting the project, the closest I might get is the creation of toolbars but since it's a doc file they're only getting added to Normal.dot. I've removed any references to other libraries and none of the forms use ActiveX controls other than the default set. So far I've found no way to reliably replicate the problem so I don't believe it's a problem with a specific line of code but more a confluence of events. I've found it very difficult to replicate the problem myself so could the client environment be a factor in some way? My closest wild guess is something to do with the pasting from the clipboard but how that could affect the VB project I've no idea. Any hints on this whatsover would be most appreciated, or even how I might even go about narrowing down the problem. TIA Craig NB This is happening with Word 2003. I know Word2K had a recognised bug like this that was fixed with SP3 If the users are modifying the document, then it will be considered by Word as well to have been changed. You should be distributing a template (.dot) that users then create documnets from by selecting New from the File menu.  SignatureHope this helps. Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my services on a paid consulting basis. Doug Robbins - Word MVP > Hi all, > [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > NB This is happening with Word 2003. I know Word2K had a recognised bug > like this that was fixed with SP3 But modifying the document content is not the same as modifying the VB project. It's not like every time a user edits a document it produces this problem, only occasionally. Is Word just getting confused somehow? My distribution model prevents me from using templates anyway. Cheers Craig > If the users are modifying the document, then it will be considered by Word > as well to have been changed. You should be distributing a template (.dot) [quoted text clipped - 46 lines] > > NB This is happening with Word 2003. I know Word2K had a recognised bug > > like this that was fixed with SP3 > But modifying the document content is not the same as modifying the VB > project. > It's not like every time a user edits a document it produces this > problem, only occasionally. Unless you can get a reliable repro case, nobody here is going to be able to help much. "Sometimes it deosn't work" the the most useless bug report imaginable - as you have discovered. But I will say that Word 2000, even with all service packs installed, as far as I can tell will discard a VBA signature if the body of the document is modified, even if the VBA editor is not even opened. Word 2003 mostly doesn't discard the signature, but I would hate to be reliant on such behavior in an application delivered to other people. The best way to reduce the scope for unexpected changes is to reduce as far as possible the scope for changes altogether. That means putting your code into a container that is *not* modified by the user. > Is Word just getting confused somehow? Possibly. Word does get confused, and it is advisable to act in a way that reduces the scope for such confusion. > My distribution model prevents me from using templates anyway. Then change it. If you would like to describe in general terms what you are trying to achieve and why you made the design choices you have, then I'm sure people would be able to suggest alternative approaches that might work better for you. SignatureRegards Jonathan West - Word MVP www.intelligentdocuments.co.uk Please reply to the newsgroup Keep your VBA code safe, sign the ClassicVB petition www.classicvb.org > The best way to reduce the scope for unexpected changes is to reduce as far > as possible the scope for changes altogether. That means putting your code > into a container that is *not* modified by the user. Such as? I don't see how it can be protected any further. It's not the user themselves who is changing the code - the project is locked - but Word or through some action my own code. > Possibly. Word does get confused, and it is advisable to act in a way that > reduces the scope for such confusion. Again I'd be interested in hearing what these ways are. > If you would like to describe in general terms what you are trying to > achieve and why you made the design choices you have, then I'm sure people > would be able to suggest alternative approaches that might work better for > you. Well OK but I highly doubt there are any alternatives. The documents are to be uploaded and downloaded from a website - hence why ideally need a certificate. I've no control over the users as anyone can subscribe to the site and access the files. I need to control what files are created/downloaded and they need to have a certain level of protection to limit their use outside of our system. I also want to be able to upgrade the code base to fix bugs etc. The only solution for this I can see is to have each file be self-contained (yes it's a big pain having lots of code bases to maintain) but it's the only way to meet the requirements. I wouldn't say my code is particularly any more complicated or even that much different from other projects I have done and never had this problem before. The only real differentiating factor would be that I've been able to use templates before. Would there be any merit to creating new doc files? Since the files contain a lot of styles and content I've been reusing the same binary files basically since the project's inception several months ago. TIA Craig > > But modifying the document content is not the same as modifying the VB > > project. [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > Please reply to the newsgroup > Keep your VBA code safe, sign the ClassicVB petition www.classicvb.org >> The best way to reduce the scope for unexpected changes is to reduce as >> far [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > user themselves who is changing the code - the project is locked - but > Word or through some action my own code. By not making any changes at all to the document that contains the code. Create a new document based on the template, and modify that. If the template code needs to be updated, then the template itself can be replaced, and any documents based on it will automatically link to the new template, provided it has th name name and location as the old one. >> Possibly. Word does get confused, and it is advisable to act in a way >> that >> reduces the scope for such confusion. > > Again I'd be interested in hearing what these ways are. By not making any deliberate modification of the template that contains the code. >> If you would like to describe in general terms what you are trying to >> achieve and why you made the design choices you have, then I'm sure [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > pain having lots of code bases to maintain) but it's the only way to > meet the requirements. You've described the mechanism by which you distribute the code, but haven't told me anything about what the code is trying to do. It's the latter that I need to know something about if I'm going to be able to suggest an alternative approach. > I wouldn't say my code is particularly any more complicated or even > that much different from other projects I have done and never had this [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > contain a lot of styles and content I've been reusing the same binary > files basically since the project's inception several months ago. Yes, definitely there would, particularly if you have performed multiple edits and updates to the code itself. Template bloat causing apparently random invalid page fault errors is a well-documented phenomenon. Combatting Template Bloat http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/MacrosVBA/TemplateBloat.htm SignatureRegards Jonathan West - Word MVP www.intelligentdocuments.co.uk Please reply to the newsgroup Keep your VBA code safe, sign the ClassicVB petition www.classicvb.org |
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