| Question |
Answer |
| What
exactly is WinSig? |
WinSig is
software that is essentially a CEFMS device driver that executes
on a PC. WinSig provides CEFMS with all the support required on
your PC. All Electronic Signature functions, local printing,
file transfers, etc., required by CEFMS are performed by WinSig. |
| Is
WinSig a terminal emulator? |
No. A
terminal emulator must still be used to access CEFMS. |
| I
have heard that WinSig is terminal emulator independent. What
does that mean? |
Almost
any Windows based terminal emulator can now be used for
accessing CEFMS. You will no longer be required to use a
specific emulator, such as VistaCom for DOS. However, the
terminal emulator that you use to access CEFMS must have a VT220
emulation and keyboard re-mapping capability. You will have to
re-map the VT220 emulator keys to send the correct ASCII
sequence for CEFMS. There are several emulators that already do
this. |
| How
much does WinSig cost? |
Nothing.
WinSig is a Corps of Engineers product and is owned by the
Corps. |
| Do
I have to install WinSig right now? |
No. But
WinSig has to be installed by September 30, 1998 on each PC that
accesses CEFMS. We recommend that you begin conversion to WinSig
as soon as possible. |
| With
what operating systems will WinSig work? |
WinSig
will only run under Microsoft Windows 95 and NT 32 bit operating
systems. |
| Where
can I get a copy of WinSig? |
WinSig
may be downloaded from the CEFMS esig web site at
http://www.esig.com/cefms.html.
Downloads will be allowed as of April 1, 1998. However, you must
request a user name and password to access the download portions
of the aforementioned web site. The email address to mail the
request to can be obtained from the same web site. Only one
download account will be allowed per District or Division. |
| Will
WinSig work with DOS or Windows 3.1 or Windows 3.11? |
No. |
| When
using WinSig, do electronic signature functions work the same
way as I'm used to? |
Electronic
signature operations when using WinSig follow all the rules for
SA, USER and DSO cards that you are already familiar with. |
| I
have heard that there is an additional operational requirement
for electronic signature when using WinSig. Is that true? |
Yes.
Users must now register their smartcards before using CEFMS for
the first time with WinSig. |
| What
is meant by the phrase "registering a smartcard"? |
With
WinSig, CEFMS must know the IP address of the PC that a user is
using to access CEFMS. To provide that information to CEFMS, a
user must register their smartcard before accessing CEFMS.
Registering a smartcard is accomplished by simply inserting your
smartcard into the smartcard reader attached to the PC that you
will use to access CEFMS. Nothing will prompt you to do this.
When the smartcard is inserted into the card reader a window
will appear announcing that the smartcard is being registered.
If this is the first time that you have registered your card
another window will pop up asking that you enter your UNIX logon
ID. It is important that you enter the ID correctly. Your UNIX
logon ID is is also what you may have heard called your "CEAP
ID" and is in the form of "u4rmfsrk". Once the ID
has been entered, both windows will close in a second or two.
When the registration windows have closed, your card has been
registered. You are now ready to use CEFMS. |
| Do
I have to register my smartcard every time before I use CEFMS? |
That
depends. If you are using the same PC and it has the same IP
address as when you registered your smartcard, then no, you
don't have to register your smartcard again. However, if the IP
address of your PC changes (for example, if your site uses
dynamic addressing), or if you use a PC with a different IP
address, you must register your smartcard before using CEFMS.
CEFMS must know the IP address that you are using to access
CEFMS. The rule is: If your IP address changes, for whatever
reason, you must register your smartcard before accessing CEFMS.
|
| Do
I have to enter my UNIX logon ID every time I register my
smartcard? |
No. You
only have to enter your UNIX logon ID when registering a
smartcard the first time you use a specific card. When you are
issued a new smartcard, you will have to enter your UNIX logon
ID the first time you register the smartcard. |
| I
don't use electronic signature when I use CEFMS. The PC that I
use does not have an electronic signature board. Will I need to
use WinSig? |
Absolutely.
WinSig performs all PC CEFMS functions, not just Electronic
Signature. So each PC that is used to access CEFMS must have
WinSig installed. |
| How
do I install WinSig? |
WinSig
consists of three software components: WinSig, and a CEFMS and
NoBoard package. Each of these components is downloaded in the
form of a self-extracting executable. A standard Install Shield
installation version(setup.exe) is obtained by running each of
the executables in separate directories. The WinSig component is
installed first, then either the CEFMS or NoBoard package.
WinSig and the NoBoard package must be installed on any PC that
will be used to access CEFMS that is not equipped with an
electronic signature board. WinSig and the CEFMS package must be
installed on each PC that will be used to access CEFMS and is
equipped with an electronic signature board. Some configuration
of the CEFMS package is required. You will need to know the
fully qualified domain names of your site's primary and
secondary KTCs. If your CEFMS database resides on a CPC
computer, your primary KTC is tk4.usace.army.mil and your
secondary KTC is tk3.usace.army.mil. If your CEFMS database
resides on a WPC computer your primary KTC is tk3.usace.army.mil
and your secondary KTC is tk4.usace.army.mil. You will have to
specify to the CEFMS package which DLL to use to access your
electronic signature board. As of now that DLL's name is "argus300.dll". |
| I
use a laptop computer with a SigNet box to access CEFMS. Will
this work with WinSig? |
The only
electronic signature software that will work with CEFMS after
September 30, 1998 is WinSig. WinSig does not provide any device
interface to the Signet box because Signet is a proprietary
device. However, it is our understanding that the company that
sells SigNet is developing a DLL for WinSig. To use SigNet with
WinSig will require that that DLL be specified when configuring
the CEFMS package for WinSig. You should contact the sellers of
SigNet for further information regarding this issue. |
| Can
WinSig and the CEFMS and NoBoard packages be installed from a
network drive? |
Yes. |
| Does
WinSig allow for network installations? |
Yes.
WinSig can be installed in such a manner that all common files
can reside on a network drive and all unique files reside on a
local drive. |
| Will
WinSig function properly if a firewall is installed on our LAN? |
Depends.
Ports 2400 through 2405 must be unblocked and allow socket
connections from the UNIX platform where CEFMS executes back to
each PC on your LAN that uses WinSig. Additionally, ports 2198
and 2199 must be open for smartcard registration purposes. |
| Is
it true that WinSig will have electronic signature failure
resolution capability? |
Yes,
indeed. WinSig will tell you exactly what data components
changed and their former and current values. |
| I
have heard that WinSig has the capability to re-sign documents,
is that true? |
Most
definitely. WinSig has the functionality to allow for the
re-signing(MACing) of documents that have had an electronic
signature failure. |
| What
about when I need to re-sign many documents because of running a
script? |
Eventually
CEFMS will have the capability to re-sign many documents at once
without the need of running a stand-alone program like the remac
program. But for now, you must use remac. There is a special
remac program just for WinSig. This program resides in the
~s0rmffla directory and the name will be either remac or wremac.
Notice that the newmac directory was NOT specified. The program
is run and operated just like the old remac program that resides
in the ~s0rmffla/newmac directory. |
| I
have had some problems printing with WinSig. I've tried
different terminal emulators and that doesn't seem to help.
What's going on? |
First of
all, the terminal emulator that you use has nothing to do with
printing when using WinSig. All CEFMS functions that are
performed on your PC are performed by WinSig, NOT the terminal
emulator. WinSig was designed to print documents sent from CEFMS
using the Windows 95 or NT print manager/spooler. If you
encounter printing problems, report them to the CEFMS hotline. |
| I
have tried to use lprint to print some files and that doesn't
work. What can I do to make it work? |
Nothing.
Lprint will not work with WinSig. WinSig uses a UNIX
counterpart called WinPrint to perform printing functions.
Trying to print files from the UNIX command line using WinPrint
should work at your location, but might not with certain
printers, because WinPrint was designed to print forms and
reports when invoked by CEFMS, not when invoked from the UNIX
command line. |
| I've
heard that WinSig doesn't work with routers that use Network
Address Translation. Is this true? |
Indeed it
is. For registration to work properly, the WinSig registries
must know the true IP address where you are located.
Since NAT prevents this, WinSig and CEFMS stop working properly. |
| Will
WinSig work with my firewall? |
Yes, if
you unblock incoming ports 2400-2407 and outgoing ports 2198 and
2199. |
