libloginhelper(3) C Library Functions libloginhelper(3)
NAME
libloginhelper - Login-Helper library for assistive technologies
DESCRIPTION
An interface for use by assistive technologies by which they can access system information and services on a 'need to know' basis while the
screen is locked, during user authentication, or during other sensitive operations.
This interface is intended for use by assistive technologies and related user-enabling services, and by applications and utilities which
may wish to restrict access to certain system devices and services during security-sensitive states, e.g. when the screen is locked or dur-
ing authentication into some secure service.
Such 'applications' (for instance, screen lock dialogs and security-enabled web browsers) use the LoginHelper client interfaces, and the
bonobo-activation query service, to query for assistive technologies which advertise the LoginHelper service. The client then queries these
assistive technologies for their device I/O requirements, via the getDeviceReqs call. The client may then issue the advisory request set-
Safe (TRUE), which requests that the LoginHelper -implementing service make a best-effort attempt to make itself more secure (for instance,
an onscreen keyboard might turn off word prediction, and a screenreader may turn off keyboard echo via speech). The return value of setSafe
is an advisory indication of whether this attempt was successful (no specific guarantees are implied). Once the 'security sensitive' state
is exited, the client should call setSafe (FALSE).
The return values from getDeviceReqs inform the client of which services the LoginHelper service (e. g. assistive technology) needs in
order to do its job. The client may use this information to loosen any restrictions on access which it may currently have in place (for
instance, keyboard grabs, etc.). If it does not do so, the likely outcome is that the end-user will experience loss of access to the sys-
tem.
Additional information is also available from the following site:
http://www.gnome.org/~billh/at-spi-idl/html/classAccessibility_1_1LoginHelper.html
FILES
The following files are used by this library:
/usr/lib/libloginhelper.so
Login-Helper library for assistive technologies
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
|Availability |SUNWgnome-a11y-libs |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
|Interface stability |Volatile |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
SEE ALSO
libatk-1.0(3), libcspi(3), attributes(5), gnome-interfaces(5)
NOTES
login-helper module is in at-spi package.
SunOS 5.11 7 Aug 2008 libloginhelper(3)