(Visual Basic 6.0) Get an EC Key in Raw Hex Format

Demonstrates how to get the private and public key parts of an EC (ECDSA) key in lowercase hex formmat.

Note: This example requires Chilkat v9.5.0.83 or greater.

Chilkat ActiveX Downloads ActiveX for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows

' This example assumes the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
' See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

' Load an EC key from some format..
Dim privKey As New PrivateKey

' This loads an ECDSA key from an unencrypted PEM file (no password required).
Dim success As Long
success = privKey.LoadAnyFormatFile("qa_data/ecc/openssl_ecc_privKey.pem","")
If (success = 0) Then
    Debug.Print privKey.LastErrorText
    Exit Sub
End If

' The key type should be "ecc" to indicate an EC key.
Debug.Print "key type = " & privKey.KeyType

' What is the size of the private key in bits?
Debug.Print "size in bits = " & privKey.BitLength

' Get the private and public EC key parts in raw hex format:
Dim sbPubKeyHex As New ChilkatStringBuilder
Dim privKeyHex As String
privKeyHex = privKey.GetRawHex(sbPubKeyHex)

' If the private key size in bits is 256, then we should have a 32-byte key (a 64 character hex string).
Debug.Print "private key = " & privKeyHex

' The public key is composed of the "x" and "y" parts, and is composed like this:  04||HEX(x)||HEX(y)
Debug.Print "public key = " & sbPubKeyHex.GetAsString()

' Sample output:
' key type = ecc
' size in bits = 256
' private key = ced36f2ba3332be439f79143d69937fc52494cd38e45243c3ea05db183919f1b
' public key = 045b4edcd501831740895f5907feabb71587076a6314d9d5141f9f8c33a478b8ce08b8dfd2a091eb6355803d7e729876c790bc0b176f2015f3bb103813753f676a