You can create a script or another application that prompts the operator to enter an electronic signature using the iFIX Electronic Signature object. This allows you to:
- Integrate with badge readers and other signing mechanisms.
- Sign for writes to OPC data sources.
- Sign for other actions when writing to multiple data points, such as recipe download.
The Electronic Signature object is a COM object that implements the IESignature interface. The object can be instantiated by both VB/VBA and C/C++ code. You can call methods in the IESignature interface to:
- Determine if a tag requires a signature.
- Display the Electronic Signature dialog box.
- Validate a signature without displaying the Electronic Signature dialog box.
- Send a signed operator message to the audit trail.
TIP: Do not use scripts that use signing from the Scheduler. Signing will not work well from a background task. This is an important consideration when implementing scripts that call global subroutines, too.
For more information on using the Electronic Signature object, refer to examples provided later in this chapter and to the iFIX Automation Interfaces Help file.
