Mechanism for Simplifying User Password Creation via Client-Side Applications

Once upon a time, I came up with an idea, which can probably be viewed as a major enhancement on top of what Firefox's built-in password manager already has to offer.

I developed this idea with both the common folks and the tech savvy in mind:

The aim is to reduce the number of unique passwords a user has to remember by employing an application to generate new ones on behalf of the user.
In the simplest use case, the user only needs to remember one unique password. The application will use the value provided by the user and a context value (that uniquely identifies the Service Providers with which to authenticate) to produce new passwords.

It got published in the Research Research Disclosure Journal in April 2007 under Disclosure Id: 516023.

All that remains is finding the time to implement it :p

As I dig deeper, it seems that a lot of plugins already do something similar with LastPass probably coming the closest.

Idea Day: Scan for shared webapp dependencies and move them to the common/lib folder

Welcome to Idea Day!
It is 6:43 AM on 3/19/2011 and its a Saturday.
Lets get cracking :)

Google search for "tomcat scan detect common jars" yielded some reading material for starters - jar-scanner and loader - but both these seemed to be get kicked-off per web-application whereas something more global is required to move jars around and thin the pack before web applications are considered at all.

Let us break-down the process:

1. Tomcat starts
2. Hook-in at the point where we have a list of the docBase attribute for all the web applications that will be hosted by this tomcat instance. And none of the web application specific handling has begun yet.
1. Loop over each ${docBase}/WEB-INF/lib folder and make a list of common jars.
2. Try to decide "commonality" based on a combination of the following factors:
   
   • start by doing a fuzzy match on the file name
   • then try to match the jar version in the names or if you can find it by introspecting the jar's manifest
   • and at the end confirm by doing an exact match on the file size
   • Thought: generating and comparing md5 hashes on files might yield the same results quicker?
3. Even after the jar dependencies have been moved to common/lib folder, one might not want to expose any of the other common jars in the shared folder to their webapp. For this case, the wiki about embedding JBoss into Tomcat gives us an idea about the possibility of only having each web application refer strictly to the jars it really needs via the help of a resource scanner listener.

Possible pitfalls:

1. There may not be a hook in the tomcat code where we have a consolidated list of the docBase attribute for all the web applications!
2. Even if such a hook exists, it may be happening at three different places:
   
   1. when the application contexts defined via server.xml are processed,
   2. when the war files directly under the webapps/ folderare processed,
   3. and when the context-fragment files under conf/Catalina/localhost/ folder are processed!
3. The user starting tomcat may not have the permissions required to move the files around.

Alternate approach:

1. Piggyback off a resource scanner listener per application and create a list/report as each individual app comes up.
2. Then Tomcat can be shutdown and the list/report can be acted upon by a script that runs under an admin/root account to achieve the same results as before.
3. Starting back the tomcat server afterwards should be fine.

It is now 7:33 PM on 3/19/2011 and it still a Saturday :)
Sent an email to the tomcat users list to find out if a hook into the process exists.
Started the process of getting and building the source-code for Tomcat.

Escape dollar sign in maven's pom.xml file

When you want to escape stuff like <hello>world</hello> in your maven pom.xml file, you can do so by following the basic XML conventions and writing it as &lt;hello&gt;world&lt;/hello&gt;

But for some reason escaping the dollar sign doesn't seem so simple. So one usually turns to Google for an answer ... BUT before you go running around integrating velocity with maven because the top Google search results for escaping a dollar sign lead you the FAQ at http://docs.codehaus.org/display/MAVENUSER/Assembly+Plugin ... please know that something as simple as writing $${show_me} works and results in ${show_me} being escaped!

Java and Locale based formatting

Folks working on localization, often ends up in situations they need to see a list of what the Locale specific information looks like in Java. They need a sample of each locale and not just a simple list of supported locales.

Here's a simple implementation (+/-) thrown together after googling the basics of the Java API, that renders a table which has samples of localized in each and every locale supported by Java.

import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.PrintWriter;
import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
import java.text.DateFormat;
import java.text.DecimalFormat;
import java.text.NumberFormat;
import java.util.Currency;
import java.util.Date;
import java.util.Locale;

public class CurrencyFormatterExample {
  
    private static PrintWriter pw;

    public static void format(Locale currentLocale) {
    Double price = new Double(1234.56);
    NumberFormat currencyFormatter;
    DateFormat df = DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.LONG,
        DateFormat.MEDIUM, currentLocale);
    String currencyOut;
    currencyFormatter = NumberFormat.getCurrencyInstance(currentLocale);
    currencyOut = currencyFormatter.format(price);
    Currency currency = currencyFormatter.getCurrency();
    String dateFormat = df.format(new Date());
        pw.print("<tr><td>" + currentLocale.toString() + "</td>" +
                 "<td>" + currencyOut + "</td>" +
                 "<td>" + currency.getCurrencyCode() + "</td>" +
                 "<td>" + currency.getSymbol(currentLocale) + "</td>" +
                 "<td>" + unicodeEscape(currency.getSymbol(currentLocale)) + "</td>" +
                 "<td>" + dateFormat + "</td></tr>");
        System.out.println(currentLocale.toString() + "\t\t" + currencyOut + "\t\t" + dateFormat);
    }

    public static void main(String args[]) throws UnsupportedEncodingException {
    try {
        pw = new PrintWriter("format.html", "UTF-8");
        pw.print("<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=UTF-8\" /></head>");
        pw.print("<body><table>");
        pw.print("<tr><th>LOCALE</th>" +
                     "<th>FORMATTED PRICE</th>" +
                     "<th>CURRENCY CODE</th>" +
                     "<th>CURRENCY SYMBOL</th>" +
                     "<th>UNICODE ESCAPED CURRENCY SYMBOL</th>" +
                     "<th>FORMATTED DATE</th></tr>");
        Locale[] locales = Locale.getAvailableLocales();
        for (int i = 0; i < locales.length; i++) {
        CurrencyFormatterExample.format(locales[i]);
        }
        pw.print("</table></body></html?");
        pw.close();
    } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    }

    private static final char[] hexChar = {
        '0','1','2','3','4','5','6','7','8','9','A','B','C','D','E','F'
    };

    private static String unicodeEscape(String s) {
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
    for (int i = 0; i < s.length(); i++) {
        char c = s.charAt(i);
        if ((c >> 7) > 0) {
        sb.append("\\u");
        sb.append(hexChar[(c >> 12) & 0xF]);
        sb.append(hexChar[(c >> 8) & 0xF]);
        sb.append(hexChar[(c >> 4) & 0xF]);
        sb.append(hexChar[c & 0xF]);
        }
        else {
        sb.append(c);
        }
    }
    return sb.toString();
    }

}

Often with such code, the printout on the java console in eclipse works fine but the populated dates, numbers and currencies in different languages, cannot be seen in the browser. I ripped of the Unicode escaping code after some googling to fix this issue. I don’t know how great the algorithm is but it does the job as far as I can tell.

Another unique feature of the generated table is that XXX is thrown in as a placeholder where ever the row represents a language and not a region so it does not have a currency associated with it.

LOCALE	FORMATTED PRICE	CURRENCY CODE	CURRENCY SYMBOL	UNICODE ESCAPED CURRENCY SYMBOL	FORMATTED DATE
ja_JP	￥1,235	JPY	￥	\uFFE5	2010/10/22 10:53:17
es_PE	S/1.234,56	PEN	S/	S/	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 AM
en	¤1,234.56	XXX	XXX	XXX	October 22, 2010 10:53:17 AM
ja_JP_JP	￥1,235	JPY	￥	\uFFE5	H22.10.22 10:53:17
es_PA	B1,234.56	PAB	B	B	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 AM
sr_BA	КМ. 1.234,56	BAM	КМ.	\u041A\u041C.	22. октобар 2010. 10:53:17
mk	¤ 1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22, октомври 2010 10:53:
es_GT	Q1,234.56	GTQ	Q	Q	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 AM
ar_AE	د.إ.‏ 1,234.56	AED	د.إ.‏	\u062F.\u0625.\u200F	22 أكتوبر, 2010 10:53:17 ص
no_NO	kr 1 234,56	NOK	kr	kr	22. oktober 2010 10:53:17
sq_AL	Lek1.234,56	ALL	Lek	Lek	2010-10-22 10:53:17.PD
bg	¤ 1 234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	Петък, 2010, Октомври 22 10:53:17
ar_IQ	د.ع.‏ 1,234.56	IQD	د.ع.‏	\u062F.\u0639.\u200F	22 أكتوبر, 2010 10:53:17 ص
ar_YE	ر.ي.‏ 1,234.56	YER	ر.ي.‏	\u0631.\u064A.\u200F	22 أكتوبر, 2010 10:53:17 ص
hu	¤ 1 234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	2010. október 22. 10:53:17
pt_PT	1.234,56 €	EUR	€	\u20AC	22 de Outubro de 2010 10:53:17
el_CY	€1.234,56	EUR	€	\u20AC	22 Οκτώβριος 2010 10:53:17 ΠΜ
ar_QA	ر.ق.‏ 1,234.56	QAR	ر.ق.‏	\u0631.\u0642.\u200F	22 أكتوبر, 2010 10:53:17 ص
mk_MK	Den 1.234,56	MKD	Den	Den	22, октомври 2010 10:53:
sv	¤ 1 234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	den 22 oktober 2010 10:53:17
de_CH	SFr. 1'234.56	CHF	SFr.	SFr.	22. Oktober 2010 10:53:17
en_US	$1,234.56	USD	$	$	October 22, 2010 10:53:17 AM
fi_FI	1 234,56 €	EUR	€	\u20AC	22. lokakuuta 2010 10:53:17
is	¤ 1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22. október 2010 10:53:17
cs	¤ 1 234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22. říjen 2010 10:53:17
en_MT	€1,234.56	EUR	€	\u20AC	22 October 2010 10:53:17
sl_SI	€ 1.234,56	EUR	€	\u20AC	Petek, 22 oktober 2010 10:53:17
sk_SK	1 234,56 Sk	SKK	Sk	Sk	Piatok, 2010, október 22 10:53:17
it	¤ 1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22 ottobre 2010 10.53.17
tr_TR	1.234,56 YTL	TRY	YTL	YTL	22 Ekim 2010 Cuma 10:53:17
zh	¤ 1,234.56	XXX	XXX	XXX	2010年10月22日 10:53:17
th	¤ 1,234.56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22 ตุลาคม 2010, 10:53:17
ar_SA	ر.س.‏ 1,234.56	SAR	ر.س.‏	\u0631.\u0633.\u200F	22 أكتوبر, 2010 10:53:17 ص
no	¤ 1 234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22. oktober 2010 10:53:17
en_GB	£1,234.56	GBP	£	\u00A3	22 October 2010 10:53:17
sr_CS	CSD 1.234,56	CSD	CSD	CSD	22.10.2010. 10.53.17
lt	¤ 1 234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	Penktadienis, 2010, Spalio 22 10.53.17
ro	¤ 1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22 octombrie 2010 10:53:17
en_NZ	$1,234.56	NZD	$	$	22 October 2010 10:53:17 AM
no_NO_NY	kr 1 234,56	NOK	kr	kr	22. oktober 2010 10:53:17
lt_LT	1 234,56 Lt	LTL	Lt	Lt	Penktadienis, 2010, Spalio 22 10.53.17
es_NI	$C1,234.56	NIO	$C	$C	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 AM
nl	¤ 1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22 oktober 2010 10:53:17
ga_IE	€1,234.56	EUR	€	\u20AC	22 Deireadh Fómhair 2010 10:53:17
fr_BE	1.234,56 €	EUR	€	\u20AC	22 octobre 2010 10:53:17
es_ES	1.234,56 €	EUR	€	\u20AC	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17
ar_LB	ل.ل.‏ 1,234.56	LBP	ل.ل.‏	\u0644.\u0644.\u200F	22 تشرين الأول, 2010 10:53:17 ص
ko	¤ 1,234.56	XXX	XXX	XXX	2010년 10월 22일 (금) 오전 10:53:17
fr_CA	1 234,56 $	CAD	$	$	22 octobre 2010 10:53:17
et_EE	1 234,56 kr	EEK	kr	kr	reede, 22. Oktoober 2010. a 10:53:17
ar_KW	د.ك.‏ 1,234.56	KWD	د.ك.‏	\u062F.\u0643.\u200F	22 أكتوبر, 2010 10:53:17 ص
sr_RS	RSD 1.234,56	RSD	RSD	RSD	22.10.2010. 10.53.17
es_US	US$1,234.56	USD	US$	US$	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 a.m.
es_MX	$1,234.56	MXN	$	$	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 AM
ar_SD	ج.س.‏ 1,234.56	SDG	ج.س.‏	\u062C.\u0633.\u200F	22 أكتوبر, 2010 10:53:17 ص
in_ID	Rp1.234,56	IDR	Rp	Rp	22 Oktober 2010 10:53:17
ru	¤ 1 234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22 Октябрь 2010 г. 10:53:17
lv	¤ 1 234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	piektdiena, 2010, 22 oktobris 10:53:17
es_UY	NU$ 1.234,56	UYU	NU$	NU$	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 AM
lv_LV	1 234,56 Ls	LVL	Ls	Ls	piektdiena, 2010, 22 oktobris 10:53:17
iw	¤ 1,234.56	XXX	XXX	XXX	10:53:17 22 אוקטובר 2010
pt_BR	R$ 1.234,56	BRL	R$	R$	22 de Outubro de 2010 10:53:17
ar_SY	ل.س.‏ 1,234.56	SYP	ل.س.‏	\u0644.\u0633.\u200F	22 تشرين الأول, 2010 10:53:17 ص
hr	¤ 1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	2010. listopad 22 10:53:17
et	¤ 1 234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	reede, 22. Oktoober 2010. a 10:53:17
es_DO	RD$1,234.56	DOP	RD$	RD$	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 AM
fr_CH	SFr. 1'234.56	CHF	SFr.	SFr.	22. octobre 2010 10:53:17
hi_IN	रू १,२३४.५६	INR	रू	\u0930\u0942	२२ अक्‍तूबर, २०१० १०:५३:१७ पूर्वाह्न
es_VE	BsF.1.234,56	VEF	BsF.	BsF.	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 AM
ar_BH	د.ب.‏ 1,234.56	BHD	د.ب.‏	\u062F.\u0628.\u200F	22 أكتوبر, 2010 10:53:17 ص
en_PH	Php1,234.56	PHP	Php	Php	October 22, 2010 10:53:17 AM
ar_TN	د.ت.‏ 1,234.56	TND	د.ت.‏	\u062F.\u062A.\u200F	22 أكتوبر, 2010 10:53:17 ص
fi	¤ 1 234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22. lokakuuta 2010 10:53:17
de_AT	€ 1.234,56	EUR	€	\u20AC	22. Oktober 2010 10:53:17
es	¤1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17
nl_NL	€ 1.234,56	EUR	€	\u20AC	22 oktober 2010 10:53:17
es_EC	$1.234,56	USD	$	$	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 AM
zh_TW	NT$1,234.56	TWD	NT$	NT$	2010年10月22日 上午 10:53:17
ar_JO	د.أ.‏ 1,234.56	JOD	د.أ.‏	\u062F.\u0623.\u200F	22 تشرين الأول, 2010 10:53:17 ص
be	¤ 1 234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	пятніца, 22, кастрычніка 2010 10.53.17
is_IS	1.235, kr.	ISK	kr.	kr.	22. október 2010 10:53:17
es_CO	$1.234,56	COP	$	$	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 AM
es_CR	C1,234.56	CRC	C	C	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 AM
es_CL	Ch$1.235	CLP	Ch$	Ch$	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 AM
ar_EG	ج.م.‏ 1,234.56	EGP	ج.م.‏	\u062C.\u0645.\u200F	22 أكتوبر, 2010 10:53:17 ص
en_ZA	R 1,234.56	ZAR	R	R	22 October 2010 10:53:17 AM
th_TH	฿1,234.56	THB	฿	\u0E3F	22 ตุลาคม 2553, 10:53:17
el_GR	1.234,56 €	EUR	€	\u20AC	22 Οκτώβριος 2010 10:53:17 πμ
it_IT	€ 1.234,56	EUR	€	\u20AC	22 ottobre 2010 10.53.17
ca	¤ 1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22 / octubre / 2010 10:53:17
hu_HU	1 234,56 Ft	HUF	Ft	Ft	2010. október 22. 10:53:17
fr	1 234,56 ¤	XXX	XXX	XXX	22 octobre 2010 10:53:17
en_IE	€1,234.56	EUR	€	\u20AC	22 October 2010 10:53:17
uk_UA	1.234,56 грв.	UAH	грв.	\u0433\u0440\u0432.	22 жовтня 2010 10:53:17
pl_PL	1 234,56 zł	PLN	zł	z\u0142	22 październik 2010 10:53:17
fr_LU	1 234,56 €	EUR	€	\u20AC	22 octobre 2010 10:53:17
nl_BE	1.234,56 €	EUR	€	\u20AC	22 oktober 2010 10:53:17
en_IN	Rs.1,234.56	INR	Rs.	Rs.	22 October, 2010 10:53:17 AM
ca_ES	€ 1.234,56	EUR	€	\u20AC	22 / octubre / 2010 10:53:17
ar_MA	د.م.‏ 1,234.56	MAD	د.م.‏	\u062F.\u0645.\u200F	22 أكتوبر, 2010 10:53:17 ص
es_BO	B$1.234,56	BOB	B$	B$	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 AM
en_AU	$1,234.56	AUD	$	$	22 October 2010 10:53:17 AM
sr	¤ 1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22.10.2010. 10.53.17
zh_SG	S$1,234.56	SGD	S$	S$	22 十月 2010 上午 10:53
pt	¤ 1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22 de Outubro de 2010 10:53:17
uk	¤ 1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22 жовтня 2010 10:53:17
es_SV	C1,234.56	SVC	C	C	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 AM
ru_RU	1 234,56 руб.	RUB	руб.	\u0440\u0443\u0431.	22 Октябрь 2010 г. 10:53:17
ko_KR	￦1,235	KRW	￦	\uFFE6	2010년 10월 22일 (금) 오전 10:53:17
vi	¤ 1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	10:53:17 Ngày 22 tháng 10 năm 2010
ar_DZ	د.ج.‏ 1,234.56	DZD	د.ج.‏	\u062F.\u062C.\u200F	22 أكتوبر, 2010 10:53:17 ص
vi_VN	1.234,56 đ	VND	đ	\u0111	10:53:17 Ngày 22 tháng 10 năm 2010
sr_ME	€ 1.234,56	EUR	€	\u20AC	22.10.2010. 10.53.17
sq	¤ 1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	2010-10-22 10:53:17.PD
ar_LY	د.ل.‏ 1,234.56	LYD	د.ل.‏	\u062F.\u0644.\u200F	22 أكتوبر, 2010 10:53:17 ص
ar	¤ 1,234.56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22 أكتوبر, 2010 10:53:17 ص
zh_CN	￥1,234.56	CNY	￥	\uFFE5	2010年10月22日 10:53:17
be_BY	Руб1 235	BYR	Руб	\u0420\u0443\u0431	пятніца, 22, кастрычніка 2010 10.53.17
zh_HK	HK$1,234.56	HKD	HK$	HK$	2010年10月22日 星期五 上午10:53:17
ja	¤ 1,234.56	XXX	XXX	XXX	2010/10/22 10:53:17
iw_IL	1,234.56 ש"ח	ILS	ש"ח	\u05E9"\u05D7	10:53:17 22 אוקטובר 2010
bg_BG	лв.1 234,56	BGN	лв.	\u043B\u0432.	Петък, 2010, Октомври 22 10:53:17
in	¤1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	2010 Oktober 22 10:53:17
mt_MT	€1,234.56	EUR	€	\u20AC	22 ta’ Ottubru 2010 10:53:17
es_PY	G1.235	PYG	G	G	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 AM
sl	¤ 1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	Petek, 22 oktober 2010 10:53:17
fr_FR	1 234,56 €	EUR	€	\u20AC	22 octobre 2010 10:53:17
cs_CZ	1 234,56 Kč	CZK	Kč	K\u010D	22. říjen 2010 10:53:17
it_CH	SFr. 1'234.56	CHF	SFr.	SFr.	22. ottobre 2010 10:53:17
ro_RO	1.234,56 LEI	RON	LEI	LEI	22 octombrie 2010 10:53:17
es_PR	$1,234.56	USD	$	$	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 AM
en_CA	$1,234.56	CAD	$	$	October 22, 2010 10:53:17 AM
de_DE	1.234,56 €	EUR	€	\u20AC	22. Oktober 2010 10:53:17
ga	¤ 1,234.56	XXX	XXX	XXX	2010 Deireadh Fómhair 22 10:53:17
de_LU	1.234,56 €	EUR	€	\u20AC	22. Oktober 2010 10:53:17
de	¤ 1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22. Oktober 2010 10:53:17
es_AR	$1.234,56	ARS	$	$	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17
sk	¤ 1 234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	Piatok, 2010, október 22 10:53:17
ms_MY	RM1,234.56	MYR	RM	RM	22 Oktober 2010 10:53:17 AM
hr_HR	Kn 1.234,56	HRK	Kn	Kn	2010. listopad 22 10:53:17
en_SG	$1,234.56	SGD	$	$	October 22, 2010 10:53:17 AM
da	¤ 1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22. oktober 2010 10:53:17
mt	¤ 1,234.56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22 ta’ Ottubru 2010 10:53:17
pl	¤ 1 234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22 październik 2010 10:53:17
ar_OM	ر.ع.‏ 1,234.56	OMR	ر.ع.‏	\u0631.\u0639.\u200F	22 أكتوبر, 2010 10:53:17 ص
tr	1.234,56 ¤	XXX	XXX	XXX	22 Ekim 2010 Cuma 10:53:17
th_TH_TH	฿๑,๒๓๔.๕๖	THB	฿	\u0E3F	๒๒ ตุลาคม ๒๕๕๓, ๑๐:๕๓:๑๗
el	¤ 1.234,56	XXX	XXX	XXX	22 Οκτώβριος 2010 10:53:17 πμ
ms	¤ 1,234.56	XXX	XXX	XXX	2010 Oktober 22 10:53:17
sv_SE	1 234,56 kr	SEK	kr	kr	den 22 oktober 2010 10:53:17
da_DK	kr 1.234,56	DKK	kr	kr	22. oktober 2010 10:53:17
es_HN	L1,234.56	HNL	L	L	22 de octubre de 2010 10:53:17 AM

Running external commands from Java

I am not a big fan of Runtime.exec for running commands via Java because there are so many fine points to take into account that running one or two simple commands requires the creation of an entire robust ecosystem. And if I ever have to repeat the process in a different codebase then writing the code again from scratch is very cumbersome.

One fine day I said to myself: Someone's got to have already written and shared these fail-safes in open-source ... right?

My search led me to commons-exec and I was thrilled! The apache website tutorial is not very enlightening about the API itself. Instead, it is this blog entry that fully allows one to understand and utilize the power of commons-exec. But an example of how to capture user-input using commons-exec is still missing from the web.

Also I ran across a library provided by Maven as part of their cookbook for maven plugin developers. I haven't experimented with it enough to talk about it but its out there.

Wish List: Integrate openssl and/or keytool funtionality into Windows Right-Click context menu

Techies have it real good. So much that we need is already out there in the world and to top it all off there's Google so that we may find what we need! Yet, sometimes I come across problems that make me wonder: "Do we really have it all?"

I have had my fair share of banging my head bloody against the computer screen ... trying to re-learn keytool & openssl syntax, again! It takes 1 month to remind myself of all the caveats and for another month I enjoy expert status. Then the vicious cycle begins again where I don't need to use them and the 10 month hibernation strips away my facilities from me. That's my year right there .... happy new year? I think not!

So what's on my wish list?

1. Establish a 3 letter extension syntax to honor what's what for public/private keypair based security. It is far too loose today and makes the creation of tooling more challenging than it needs to be.
   1. Public/Private Keypairs: should at least end with pem or der
      • filename.pem
      • filename.der
   2. Certificate Signing Requests: should end with csr
      • filename.csr
   3. Keystores should clearly define their own format
      
      • filename.jks
2. Tools or widgets or plugins ... something should be available which makes life easier by allowing the user to right-click a file and take any valid action supported by openssl or keytool.

I don't want to make it seem like "the sky is falling" ... to be fair, it is not like the security space is completely without tooling. Some decent solutions exist that make key and certificate management simpler:

1. Portecle: is a user friendly GUI application for creating, managing and examining key stores, keys, certificates, certificate requests, certificate revocation lists and more.
   • Wrapping Portecle with Jar Bundler works well for mac. And if you need to run it as root, you can use "sudo open portecle.app" to launch it.
2. KeyStore Explorer: is a free GUI replacement for the Java command-line utilities keytool, jarsigner and jadtool. KeyStore Explorer presents their functionality, and more, via an intuitive graphical user interface