NE_SSL_CERT_CMP(3)

💅 NE_SSL_CERT_CMP(3) — the neon API reference, bestie edition 🎀

okay so this is a page straight out of the neon manual (yes, that neon, the API reference one), and it's literally all about certificate objects — comparing them, freeing them, fingerprinting them, checking their validity window. six functions, one page, zero skips. let's go ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

ne_ssl_cert_cmp, ne_ssl_cert_free, ne_ssl_cert_digest, ne_ssl_cert_hdigest, ne_ssl_cert_validity, ne_ssl_cert_validity_time — the girlies that operate on certificate objects 🫶

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <ne_header.h>

int ne_ssl_cert_cmp(const ne_ssl_certificate *c1,
                    const ne_ssl_certificate *c2);

void ne_ssl_cert_free(ne_ssl_certificate *cert);

int ne_ssl_cert_digest(const ne_ssl_certificate *c1, char *digest);

char *ne_ssl_cert_hdigest(const ne_ssl_certificate *c1,
                          unsigned int flags);

void ne_ssl_cert_validity_time(const ne_ssl_certificate *cert,
                               time_t *from, time_t *until);

void ne_ssl_cert_validity(const ne_ssl_certificate *cert, char *from,
                          char *until);

like, screenshot this, it's the whole cast 👑

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

ne_ssl_cert_cmp — the vibe check 🪞

you use ne_ssl_cert_cmp to compare two certificate objects. it returns zero if they refer to the same certificate, and non-zero otherwise. that's it, that's the whole function, no cap.

ne_ssl_cert_free — the goodbye 💔

ne_ssl_cert_free destroys a certificate object once you're done with it and it's no longer needed. be a good citizen and actually call it, bestie. 🧚

ne_ssl_cert_digest — fingerprint reveal 😭

ne_ssl_cert_digest writes a human-readable fingerprint as a NUL-terminated string into the digest buffer you hand it, formatted like "aa:bb...:ff". the digest buffer must be at least NE_SSL_DIGESTLEN bytes in length. queen of precision, we stan. 💅

ne_ssl_cert_hdigest — the malloc'd twin 🌈

ne_ssl_cert_hdigest returns a human-readable fingerprint for the certificate object. the flags parameter specifies the hash formatting options as if passed to ne_strhash(3) (iykyk). the returned string is malloc-allocated and must be freed after use — not me having to remind you to free() your stuff 🙈

ne_ssl_cert_validity_time — when's the window ⏰

ne_ssl_cert_validity_time retrieves both the time from which the certificate is valid from and until. each time comes back through the from and until parameters, and they're written as (time_t)-1 if either time cannot be represented as a time_t value. tragic, but that's the rule.

ne_ssl_cert_validity — same energy, but strings 🎀

ne_ssl_cert_validity similarly writes the validity times into the string buffers you provide, using RFC 1123-style date formatting (not localized — we're keeping it universal, periodt). the output parameters must be at least NE_SSL_VDATELEN bytes in length. and the best part: either parameter can be passed as NULL. flexible icon behavior ✨

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🔥 RETURN VALUE 🔥

• ne_ssl_cert_cmp returns 0 if the certificates are the same, and non-zero otherwise.
• ne_ssl_cert_digest returns 0 on success or non-zero on error.
• the return value of ne_ssl_cert_hdigest is a NUL-terminated malloc-allocated string, or NULL if the hash cannot be created. 😭

lowkey important: ne_ssl_cert_free and ne_ssl_cert_validity / ne_ssl_cert_validity_time return nothing — they're void, so don't go checking them for status, bestie. 💀

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🦋 HISTORY 🦋

ne_ssl_cert_hdigest is available in in neon 0.32.0 and later. (yes it says "in in", we're keeping it, it's iconic, the manpage said it first 👑)

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⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

• ne_strhash(3) — go read it, it's giving main character energy 🌟

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💜 COPYRIGHT 💜

Copyright © 2001-2026 Joe Orton

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okay that's the whole page, you're officially a certificate object expert now, no notes 🫶✨

— from the neon manual, dated 03/20/2026 🎀 (that's the source/version and date, folded in cute so the footer stays slay) 💅