Invoking ArcotID PKI Client on Web Page

CA ArcotID PKI Client Reference Guide › Invoking the ArcotID PKI Client › Invoking ArcotID PKI Client on Web Page

Invoking ArcotID PKI Client on Web Page

This section describes the process of invoking ArcotID PKI Client on a Web page. Refer to the appendix, "Source Code Samples" appendix for the working sample code that is implemented by using these instructions.

To invoke the ArcotID Client from a Web page:

Include arcotclient.js in your page using the SCRIPT tag as follows:
```
<SCRIPT type="text/javascript"
src="arcotclient.js"></SCRIPT>
```
Create a DIV tag inside the body of your page.
This identifies where dynamically generated code will be inserted. Depending on the type of client invoked (Native, Java), different code may be generated in JavaScript. The code that is generated will be automatically inserted at the location of this DIV tag.

The DIV tag needs to include a unique identifier such as ArcotIDClient. This unique identifier is used in the next step.

The DIV tag is coded as follows:
```
<div id="ArcotIDClient"></div>
```
Add JavaScript initialization method. Create a JavaScript method that initializes the ArcotID PKI Client when the page loads. For example:
```
var arcotClient;
function initClient() {
arcotClient = new ArcotClient();
arcotClient.setAttribute("clientBaseURL", "client");     
arcotClient.write("ArcotIDClient");
   }
```
In the preceding example, clientBaseURL is an optional attribute. The full list of optional client invocation attributes are listed in the following table:

Attribute	Possible Values	Description	Default Value
clientType	ActiveX Applet	Sets which client should be used. Can be invoked several times to specify an order of preference for which client should be used. For example, if it is called first with Flash and then with Applet, then when write() is invoked, the library will first try to use the Flash version and if a Flash player is not available (or not the right version of Flash), it will instead use the Applet.	The default behavior is that the library detects the most appropriate client for the user's browser and OS combination.
clientBaseURL	Any URL (relative or absolute). If absolute, it must start with http:// or https://	Sets the URL of the directory where the different ArcotID PKI Client package files (.cab, .jar, .swf, .js) can be found.	The default value is "", which means the client files are expected to be found at the same directory level as the invoking Web page.
clientReadyCallback	The name of a JavaScript method on the current page.	This defines a JavaScript callback method that is invoked when the ArcotID PKI Client is fully initialized and ready to process API calls such as SignChallenge() and GetGlobalAttribute(). This callback can be used to ensure login buttons are disabled on a Web page until after the client loads. This is especially useful for the Java applet because the JVM can take time to initialize during the first invocation of the applet. It is strongly recommended to use this callback to avoid errors that result if ArcotID PKI Client API functions are invoked before the client is initialized and ready.	None
flashInstallURL	URL (relative or absolute). If absolute, it must start with http:// or https://	URL where the user is redirected if Flash is not installed in the user's browser.	http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer
flashUpdateURL	URL (relative or absolute). If absolute, it must start with http:// or https://	URL the user is redirected to if Flash is available in the user's browser but is not the required version	http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/about/
javaInstallURL	URL (relative or absolute). If absolute, it must start with http:// or https://	URL the user is redirected to if Java is not available in the user's browser	http://www.java.com/en/download/
signedApplet	true or false	Whether the signed applet should be used instead of the unsigned applet.	true
ActiveXMinVersion	A version string in the following format: 5,0,0,0	Sets the minimum version of the ArcotID PKI ActiveX plugin that is required by the Web page. If the user has an older version of the ActiveX plugin, then the user will be prompted to upgrade to the newest version.	5,0,0,0

Add onload event.
Add a call to the initClient method (created in Step 3) to the onload event of the body tag as follows:
```
 <body onload="initClient();">
```
The onload event only happens after all the resources of the pages have been loaded. Pages that have large images might take more time to load, causing the client to be instantiated only after that extra delay. An alternative to speed-up the loading process is to instead use the ready event (which is triggered as soon as the page structure is available). Because of browser incompatibilities, Arcot suggests you to use a third-party package such as jquery. Using jquery, you can replace the onload event with the following JavaScript lines:
```
$(document).ready(function(){
arcotClientInit();
}
```