DACS_CURRENT_CREDENT(8) 				     DACS Web Services Manual					   DACS_CURRENT_CREDENT(8)

NAME

       dacs_current_credentials - display DACS credentials

SYNOPSIS

       dacs_current_credentials [dacsoptions[1]]

DESCRIPTION

       This program is part of the DACS suite.

       The dacs_current_credentials web service provides information about the credentials that accompany the request and the identities described
       by those credentials. It can be used to determine whether credentials are valid, confirm who they belong to, find out which roles are
       associated with the credentials, and so on.

       If user activity[2] data is available, dacs_current_credentials can also return information for the identity associated with each valid set
       of credentials, including the time of the last sign on and a description of any sign-on that is still "active" (i.e., has not expired and
       was not signed off). This information can be useful for detecting unauthorized account access, regardless of the authentication method
       used, and other potentially problematic activity.

       The FORMAT argument[3] determines the type of output, with the default being HTML, using the style sheet dacs_current_credentials.css[4].
       If XML output is selected, a document conforming to dacs_current_credentials.dtd[5] is returned, which supplies additional information. The
       JSON format is also recognized. The previous_auth and active_auth elements appear only when user activity tracking data is accessible. The
       previous_auth element is empty if there are not two or more records of authentication activity for the associated identity. For a given
       identity, an active_auth element is present for each authentication event for which there is no corresponding sign off event, other than
       the most recent one, and for which the issued credentials have not expired - these are "active sessions". Reauthentication as the same
       identity does not create a sign off event, however, and signing off (e.g., via dacs_signout(8)[6]) does not necessarily mean that a user
       agent has destroyed credentials (though that is normally the case). Also, a user can unilaterally destroy credentials (e.g., by terminating
       a browser session or removing cookies manually), so not all active sessions necessarily exist.

OPTIONS

   Web Service Arguments
       dacs_current_credentials accepts the following arguments in addition to the standard CGI arguments[7].

       DETAIL
	   If "yes", this optional argument requests additional information. It is recognized only in conjunction with XML format output. By
	   default, this argument can only be used by a DACS administrator (see dacs_admin()[8]). The activity tracking information is returned
	   only if detail is requested.

EXAMPLE

       After authenticating[9] as DSS::INFOCARDS:bob, invoke dacs_current_credentials (HTML)[10] to view the identity (or identities) stored as a
       cookie in your browser. Information about the credentials can also be returned as XML[11].

FILES

       dacs_current_credentials.css[4]

DIAGNOSTICS

       The program exits 0 if everything was fine, 1 if an error occurred.

SEE ALSO

       dacs_authenticate(8)[12], dacs_signout(8)[6]

AUTHOR

       Distributed Systems Software (www.dss.ca[13])

COPYING

       Copyright2003-2012 Distributed Systems Software. See the LICENSE[14] file that accompanies the distribution for licensing information.

NOTES

	1. dacsoptions
	   http://dacs.dss.ca/man/dacs.1.html#dacsoptions

	2. user activity
	   http://dacs.dss.ca/man/dacs.1.html#tracking_user_activity

	3. FORMAT argument
	   http://dacs.dss.ca/man/dacs.services.8.html#FORMAT

	4. dacs_current_credentials.css
	   http://dacs.dss.ca/man//css/dacs_current_credentials.css

	5. dacs_current_credentials.dtd
	   http://dacs.dss.ca/man/../dtd-xsd/dacs_current_credentials.dtd

	6. dacs_signout(8)
	   http://dacs.dss.ca/man/dacs_signout.8.html

	7. standard CGI arguments
	   http://dacs.dss.ca/man/dacs.services.8.html#standard_cgi_args

	8. dacs_admin()
	   http://dacs.dss.ca/man/dacs.exprs.5.html#dacs_admin

	9. authenticating
	   https://dacs.dss.ca/infocard-demo/cgi-bin/dacs/dacs_authenticate?USERNAME=bob&PASSWORD=foozle&DACS_JURISDICTION=INFOCARDS&AUXILIARY=&DACS_BROWSER=1&COOKIE_SYNTAX=COOKIE_NETSCAPE

       10. invoke dacs_current_credentials (HTML)
	   https://dacs.dss.ca/infocard-demo/cgi-bin/dacs/dacs_current_credentials?FORMAT=HTML

       11. returned as XML
	   https://dacs.dss.ca/infocard-demo/cgi-bin/dacs/dacs_current_credentials?FORMAT=XML&DETAIL=yes

       12. dacs_authenticate(8)
	   http://dacs.dss.ca/man/dacs_authenticate.8.html

       13. www.dss.ca
	   http://www.dss.ca

       14. LICENSE
	   http://dacs.dss.ca/man/../misc/LICENSE

DACS 1.4.27b							    10/22/2012						   DACS_CURRENT_CREDENT(8)