Authenticated Discoverability for UWP and Win32 Apps
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems lack a secure and company-specific mechanism for Universal Windows Applications (UWP) to discover and communicate with Win32 desktop applications, leading to cumbersome pre-arranged dependencies and lack of native registration/discoverability paradigms, which is burdensome for UWP-to-UWP communication and insecure for event propagation.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system where UWP Apps declare their availability programmatically and authenticate through Digital Certificates, allowing Win32 Apps to securely register and communicate with trusted UWP Apps using the Desktop Bridge and Native Windows APIs, decoupling the dependency between UWP and Win32 App authors and enabling secure event broadcasting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If UWP Apps use pre-arranged App Service identifiers for communication, then communication between UWP Apps can be established, but the system becomes cumbersome and requires embedded knowledge of third-party App Services
Solution Approach 1:
UWP Apps perform self-registration with the Win32 App by declaring their own App Service identifiers and event interests programmatically. The Win32 App automatically discovers and authenticates these Apps through a registration process, eliminating the need for pre-arranged dependencies and embedded third-party service knowledge.
Solution Approach 2:
UWP Apps perform preliminary registration and authentication actions before actual communication occurs. The Apps declare their availability and event interests in advance, allowing the Win32 App to establish trusted connections proactively rather than requiring pre-configured service identifiers.
2Adaptability or versatility
If Win32 Apps propagate events to all possible UWP Apps, then event coverage is maximized, but security is compromised and computational overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
UWP Apps provide feedback to the Win32 App by declaring specific event types they are interested in receiving. The Win32 App uses this feedback to filter and propagate only relevant events to authenticated UWP Apps, achieving selective event distribution that balances coverage with security and performance.
3Ease of operation
If UWP Apps embed third-party App Service identifiers, then direct communication is enabled, but dependency on pre-arranged configurations increases
Solution Approach 1:
The Win32 App serves as an intermediary that mediates communication between multiple UWP Apps. Instead of UWP Apps directly embedding third-party service identifiers, they register with the Win32 App which manages the authentication and routing, providing a flexible intermediary layer that eliminates pre-arranged dependency chains.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer system, comprising one or more processors and a memory including instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to at least: execute a first executable application; access a first registration request from a second executable application; validate a digital certification of the one or more components of the second executable; in response to the validating of the digital certification of the one or more components, save information from the first registration request into a registration store, wherein the information saved from the first registration request includes a unique identifier including (1) an identification of one or more types of events, and (2) a package family name; and send a raised event without requiring further authentication from the second executable application.