Paul Fisher wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> When I download software off the net, or install it, I am sometimes 
> prompted by the program to enter my name and organisation.
> Could Taverna do this too, allowing fields in the metadata to be 
> automatically populated?
> 
> I'm currently building lots of workflow fragments, and it is slightly 
> annoying having to type my name into the author field for every 
> workflow. Surely this could be automatically put in, since I am using 
> the workbench on my computer and I'm building it. This could be 
> beneficial for metadata uses in the future too, and my idea of digital 
> signatures for a workflow (stopping or limiting abuse of workflow 
> re-use). 

A digital signature would not prevent abuse or reuse without 
attribution, as there's nothing to stop someone simply removing the 
signature. All it can do is, when present, assert that you really were 
the author (as opposed to someone else claiming you were), it can't ever 
prevent someone removing your name or identification from a workflow.

Some years ago we suggested digital signatures for workflows to allow 
for arbitrary workflow execution services - in general you wouldn't want 
to allow an arbitrary workflow to run on your server, so the signature 
would act as a key to allow the server to run it. In those cases the 
signature would be more likely to be that of an approval board or 
similar entity, not the original author although of course it could be both.

Tom

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