Date format for digital signature

[ChrisAlba]

At the moment, if I setup a digital signature showing the date of signing, the date shows in the following format: 2010.11.30 11:37:28 +01'00'
I would much rather have a european date format, something like ddd/mm/yyyy . hh:mm. Is it possible?


I would also like to experiment with a timestamp server.
Is there such a thing as a free timestamp server that I could use for that purpose ? I know of http://www.itconsult.co.uk/stamper.htm, but I don't think it is suitable.

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.
Cheers
Christine

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello Christine,

I spoke with our lead developer and he told me that there is no standardized way on how to display the date / time in a signature, but he also told me that we are using the same formatting as Adobe.

As for a free timestamp server you could try this one:
http://tsp.iaik.at/tsp/TspRequest

Best,
Stefan

[ChrisAlba]

Thanks for your answer Stefan

So, you're telling me that I must consider the "no formating option" as being good enough just beacause this is the way it's done in Abode . Anyway, I'll make do.

The idea of digitaly signed pdf with a certified date is beautiful, but there are many things I don't understand.
First of all, how do people know it's not a faked signature ?
Then, the certified timestamping... I did go to the TimeStampServer you mentioned, but I don't understand how to use it.

Does anybody know of a full tutorial that could answer my questions ?

TIA - Cheers,
Christine

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello Chris,

My comment was a neutral one - I didn't intend it to be interpreted as trying to make you "cope with" anything - it's the way Adobe does it, and as (still ) the majority of people use Adobe Reader as their PDF application - they are de-facto setting up some standards if there are none written, and we have followed some of these unwritten standards when designing our products. We can reconsider that, and I will make a feature request for the date formatting in particular.

As for the time stamping - this is a good place to start reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_timestamping

And for digital signatures - there are also third party paid for services which will guarantee that the person who signed this document is indeed the one who he claims he is.
Here is an article on cryptography with public and private keys:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-key_cryptography

Best,
Stefan