Web App With Signature

[AG]

I need to create a ASP.NET (3.5) web app where the client machine will be a
tablet pc.
The app will have a patient consent form that the patient would sign using
the stylus.
I would need to save the complete image of the signed form with signature,
for future reference.

Any suggestions on how to accomplish this would be appreciated.

 

[Hillbilly]

I was involved in this type of project that went nowhere. Gee, the customer
didn't realize he would have to pay me to write software for him %-) I did a
lot of research and after weaning out the many so-called digital signature
"solutions" I took the following vendor very seriously:
http://topazsystems.com/

 

[bruce barker]

while this can be written in javascript, you'd need a modern browser like
safari with canvas support to do a good job. I'd look at either a flash or
silverlight solution.

-- bruce (sqlwork.com)

 

[AG]

Thanks Bruce.
What about an activeX control? The app would not be for general public use
anyway.

 

[AG]

Thanks. I don't know if their products will fit, but they do have some good
info.

 

[Steven Cheng]

Hi AG,

Regarding on your application scenario, I think what approach to use depend
on how is the digital sigining key(certificate) retrieved, is it a
certificate at client or on server( a single cert)?

If all the forms will be signed with the same server-side certi key, I
think you can just create a server-side GDI+ component which will always
accept the given parameters(from the submit form fields) and compose an
Image (render it out in browser if necessary).

If the certifcate is at client-side, I'm afraid it would be necessary to
use some rich client approach such as ACTIVEX control. ActiveX control is
very common for such scenario which will require browser application to
retrieve protect resource on client(such as file system or certificate
store...).

Sincerely,

Steven Cheng

Microsoft MSDN Online Support Lead


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--------------------

Reply-To: "AG" <[email protected]>
From: "AG" <[email protected]>
Subject: Web App With Signature
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2008 08:36:05 -0400

I need to create a ASP.NET (3.5) web app where the client machine will be

a

 

[AG]

Steven,

Maybe I am missing something, but I don't see where I would need a digital
signing cert.
The app would run under https, so a server cert will be necessary.
The 'signing' is to be done using a stylus. The idea is to replace paper
forms.
Instead of a paper form, a patient would be handed a tablet pc with the
'form' on screen in a browser.
Patient would fill out the info and actually sign using a stylus.
I need a way to capture the signature on the web form and validate that it
is not left empty.
Although I am open to suggestion, I thought that the best way to insure
nothing changes after signing, would be to somehow create an image of the
completed form with signature and store that, in addition to storing the
form data in a database.
Since the app is not for general public use, requiring an ACTEVEX is
acceptable.
The main question is how to go about collecting and validating the
signature?

 

[Steven Cheng]

Thanks for your reply AG,

Seems I missed the "stylus" part. I agree with you that cert if not
necessary if the signature is just to capture a image version of thet form
the user fill in browser. And I do think ActiveX is the reasonable
approach here.

As you said that "you need a way to capture the signature on the web form",
I think one approach is let the activeX control do the following task:

1. You can put the form in the activeX control(instead of the web html
page) , then the activex control can use some windows print API(print
message) to capture the screen of the activex control window.

2. If you do not put the form in ActiveX control, but leave it in html page
markup. You may need to capture the screen of the entire browser window.

#How To Copy the Screen or Active Window to the Clipboard from Visual Basic
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/240653

For the validation part, I'm not sure whether the stylus generated
signature has some particular format that can be validated? Otherwise,
image format data is really quite difficult to validate.

Sincerely,

Steven Cheng

Microsoft MSDN Online Support Lead


Delighting our customers is our #1 priority. We welcome your comments and
suggestions about how we can improve the support we provide to you. Please
feel free to let my manager know what you think of the level of service
provided. You can send feedback directly to my manager at:
(e-mail address removed).
==================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
--------------------

Reply-To: "AG" <[email protected]>
From: "AG" <[email protected]>
References: <[email protected]>

 

[AG]

Thanks Steven,

Would questions regarding the details of the ActiveX, would be better posted
in a windowsforms group?
--

AG
Email: npATadhdataDOTcom

Thanks for your reply AG,

Seems I missed the "stylus" part. I agree with you that cert if not
necessary if the signature is just to capture a image version of thet form
the user fill in browser. And I do think ActiveX is the reasonable
approach here.

As you said that "you need a way to capture the signature on the web
form",
I think one approach is let the activeX control do the following task:

1. You can put the form in the activeX control(instead of the web html
page) , then the activex control can use some windows print API(print
message) to capture the screen of the activex control window.

2. If you do not put the form in ActiveX control, but leave it in html
page
markup. You may need to capture the screen of the entire browser window.

#How To Copy the Screen or Active Window to the Clipboard from Visual
Basic
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/240653

For the validation part, I'm not sure whether the stylus generated
signature has some particular format that can be validated? Otherwise,
image format data is really quite difficult to validate.

Sincerely,

Steven Cheng

Microsoft MSDN Online Support Lead


Delighting our customers is our #1 priority. We welcome your comments and
suggestions about how we can improve the support we provide to you. Please
feel free to let my manager know what you think of the level of service
provided. You can send feedback directly to my manager at:
(e-mail address removed).
==================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.
--------------------

Reply-To: "AG" <[email protected]>
From: "AG" <[email protected]>
References: <[email protected]>

 

[Steven Cheng]

Thanks for your reply AG,

Yes, if you have some further question about graphics or ActiveX UI
programming, I suggest you post in some winform(for .NET) or windows GDI
newsgroup(for unmanaged API) programming.

Sincerely,

Steven Cheng

Microsoft MSDN Online Support Lead


Delighting our customers is our #1 priority. We welcome your comments and
suggestions about how we can improve the support we provide to you. Please
feel free to let my manager know what you think of the level of service
provided. You can send feedback directly to my manager at:
(e-mail address removed).

==================================================
Get notification to my posts through email? Please refer to
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/aa948868.aspx#notifications.
==================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
--------------------

 

[Jeff at Bennet-Tec.com]

> I need to create a ASP.NET (3.5) web app where the client machine
> will be a tablet pc.
> The app will have a patient consent form that the patient
> would sign using the stylus.
> I would need to save the complete image of the signed form
> with signature, for future reference.
> Any suggestions on how to accomplish this would be appreciated.
>
> --
> AG
> Email: npATadhdataDOTcom

Take a look at our MetaDraw control and also our Web Signature control

http://www.bennet-tec.com/btProducts/MetaDraw/
http://www.bennet-tec.com/btProducts/WebSignature/


Both of these ActiveX controls can be used in a web page to capture a
signature. MetaDraw is generally more flexible with more functionality,
but Web Signature is simpler and also operates over Pocket PC's ( MetaDraw
can only be used on desktop, laptop and tablet PCs )

As you are looking to save the complete image of the consent form with the
signature and you are working on a tablet PC I think MetaDraw will be the
better choice for you - you can put the entire consent form in MetaDraw and
fill in check boxes and allow the user to sign. The result can then be saved
as a single image in a variety of image formats ( a vector format such as
WMF or EMF will probably be most compact, but you can also save to bmp, gif,
jpg, or png ).




* * Please include a copy of this message with any reply on this topic

-----

Jeff Bennett
Jeff AT Bennet-Tec DOT Com


* Bennet-Tec Information Systems, Inc
* 50 Jericho Tpk, Jericho, NY 11753
* Phone 516 997 5596, Fax - 5597
* WWW.Bennet-Tec.Com

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and Custom Software Development Services

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