Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Getting Started:
Core Business Services

OpenEdge usage

OpenEdge provides PBE features directly in the Progress 4GL that are especially designed to generate symmetric encryption keys for the 4GL symmetric-key encryption and decryption functions. In the 4GL, these features include the:

GENERATE-PBE-KEY function.
GENERATE-PBE-SALT function.

For more information, see the sections on cryptography in OpenEdge Development: Programming Interfaces .

Caution: Progress Software Corporation recommends that you use the cryptographic features of the 4GL only if you have a well-grounded understanding of cryptography and its usage. Use of cryptography without the necessary preparation can result in permanent data loss. In general, cryptography can have significant negative impact on application performance and decrease effective data compression for data stored in a database. For more information on managing data encryption and decryption, see the “Security” white paper prepared by the Progress Software Corporation Marketing Department, which can be found on the PSDN Web site.

OpenEdge also uses PBE to secure the generation and storage of private keys and server digital certificates to establish SSL identities for OpenEdge servers.

For more information on:

SSL — See Chapter 5, " Public-Key Infrastructure (PKI)."
OpenEdge support for SSL — See Chapter 6, " Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)."
Support for managing private keys and server digital certificates in OpenEdge — See the sections on managing OpenEdge key and certificate stores in OpenEdge Getting Started: Installation and Configuration .