Writing an applet that list all installed applets and packages on the card

Question

I want to write a program that returns AID of all installed or loaded applets and packages on Java card. In the other word, I want to upload an applet that when it received APDU Command= xx xx xx xx for example, returns those AIDs. (It is better to returns their Privileges and Life Cycles also,if possible.)

I searched JC222VMspec , JC222JCREspec and JC222APIspec for a method like LIST_APP for example! But I found nothing. I want to know if is there any way to do this? If so,how? Implementing a method or there is a method?

As a minor question, What is the difference between these three specification? I mean, when I want to write an applet for Java Card, which one of them I must read?

Answer 1

In cards compliant to GlobalPlatform 2.2, there is a mechanism to list all application AIDs without needing to authenticate, for example from a User Interface application.

There is a catch though: this mechanism, described in GlobalPlatform 2.2 Amendment C, applies only to contactless applets. Anyway, my recommendation is to download the spec and have a detailed look at it. It is available from http://www.globalplatform.org/specificationscard.asp (registration required).