(gcrypt.info.gz) Architecture

 
 13 Architecture
 ***************
 
 This chapter describes the internal architecture of Libgcrypt.
 
    Libgcrypt is a function library written in ISO C-90.  Any compliant
 compiler should be able to build Libgcrypt as long as the target is
 either a POSIX platform or compatible to the API used by Windows NT.
 Provisions have been take so that the library can be directly used from
 C++ applications; however building with a C++ compiler is not supported.
 
    Building Libgcrypt is done by using the common `./configure && make'
 approach.  The configure command is included in the source distribution
 and as a portable shell script it works on any Unix-alike system.  The
 result of running the configure script are a C header file
 (`config.h'), customized Makefiles, the setup of symbolic links and a
 few other things.  After that the make tool builds and optionally
 installs the library and the documentation.  See the files `INSTALL'
 and `README' in the source distribution on how to do this.
 
    Libgcrypt is developed using a Subversion(1) repository.  Although
 all released versions are tagged in this repository, they should not be
 used to build production versions of Libgcrypt.  Instead released
 tarballs should be used.  These tarballs are available from several
 places with the master copy at <ftp://ftp.gnupg.org/gcrypt/libgcrypt/>.
 Announcements of new releases are posted to the
 <gnupg-announce@gnupg.org> mailing list(2).
 
     [image src="libgcrypt-modules.png" alt="Libgcrypt subsystems"]
 Figure   13.1: Libgcrypt subsystems
 
    Libgcrypt consists of several subsystems (  
 fig:subsystems.) and all these subsystems provide a public API; this
 includes the helper subsystems like the one for S-expressions.  The API
 style depends on the subsystem; in general an open-use-close approach
 is implemented.  The open returns a handle to a context used for all
 further operations on this handle, several functions may then be used
 on this handle and a final close function releases all resources
 associated with the handle.

 
* Public-Key Subsystem Architecture              About public keys.
* Symmetric Encryption Subsystem Architecture    About standard ciphers.
* Hashing and MACing Subsystem Architecture      About hashing.
* Multi-Precision-Integer Subsystem Architecture About big integers.
* Prime-Number-Generator Subsystem Architecture  About prime numbers.
* Random-Number Subsystem Architecture           About random stuff.
 
    ---------- Footnotes ----------
 
    (1) A version control system available for many platforms
 
    (2) See `http://www.gnupg.org/documentation/mailing-lists.en.html'
 for details.

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