Using the CryptoAPI in your Applications
Each of the five functional areas contains functions that fall into different task-oriented categories. The following list explains the functional areas.
Note Throughout this document, except for instances relating directly to messages, the term hash or hashing will be used rather than digest or digesting. In most cases, the terms could be used interchangeably.
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The low-level message functional area. This area includes all the low-level message functions. They provide more flexibility than the simplified message functions, but usually require more function calls. (See Using Low-Level Message Functions, and Low-Level Message Functions).
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The simplified message functional area. This area includes the following types of functions:
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Encryption and decryption functions. These functions are used to encode and encrypt, and decode and decrypt messages and data. (See Using Simplified Message Functions, and Simplified Message Functions).
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Message signing functions. These functions are used to sign messages and data. (See Using Simplified Message Functions, and Simplified Message Functions.)
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Signature and data verification functions. These functions are used both to sign out-going messages and to verify the authenticity of signatures that have been applied to received messages and related data. (See Using Simplified Message Functions, and Simplified Message Functions.)