Two kinds of files
Open any .asice container and you will find the same layout:
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
mimetype | One line that declares the container type |
| Your documents | The PDF, Word or other files that were signed |
META-INF/manifest.xml | A list of the documents and their media types |
META-INF/signatures0.xml | The first signature, in XAdES format |
META-INF/signatures1.xml | The second signature, and so on |
A good file viewer separates the two groups. In ASiCE Viewer the documents sit under Files, while mimetype and everything in META-INF are tucked into Technical files, closed by default so they do not get in the way.
What you can do with each file
- Preview it. PDF, DOCX, XLSX, ODT, images, text, CSV, JSON and XML open directly. XML is indented so it can actually be read.
- Download it. One click gives you the file byte for byte as it was signed.
- Download everything. A single button packs all documents into an ordinary ZIP.
Why look at the technical files at all?
Most people never need to. They are useful when something is wrong: a support engineer may ask which signature profile was used, or you may want to see the raw SigningTime yourself. Opening signatures0.xml in the viewer shows the certificate, the digest of every document and the signed properties.
A file that appears in the container but is not referenced by any signature was not signed. ASiCE Viewer compares each signature's references with the files and warns when a referenced file is missing or altered.
File names with special characters
Containers created in Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania often contain names with õ, ä, š or ž. ASiCE Viewer decodes names as UTF-8 and falls back to the Baltic code page, so Üürileping.pdf stays Üürileping.pdf. More on reading documents in ASiC-E Reader.
Frequently asked questions
Can I delete a file from the container in the viewer?
No. A viewer only reads. Removing a signed file would break the signatures anyway.
Why are there several signatures files?
Each signer gets a separate file: signatures0.xml, signatures1.xml and so on. That lets people sign one after another without touching earlier signatures.