Delphi & SAML (Web apps or desktop apps)?

Question

is the SAML protocol (Sing Sign ON) used soley for web apps and web services, or is it also used for standard applications?

REVISED:

I am looking for some windows (Standard Applications (not web based)) protocols for Single Sign On

Answer 1

If you are looking at Windows specifically, why not use Kerberos and Integrated Windows Authentication? It's built into Active Directory and Domain Controllers. It doesn't really work once you start crossing into the Internet and different security domains but it works well behind your firewall in a corporate environment.

However, SAML can be used for desktop applications. I've run into applications before that would retrieve the Kerberos ticket from the Desktop, make a WSTrust/RST call to an STS to validate the Kerb token and get back a SAML token in the RSTR that would be embedded into a Web Services call that the desktop application needed to make.

Answer 2

SAML allows secure web domains to exchange user authentication and authorization data and by definition would require an internet connection to do so. So no you would not want to use it for a desktop application.

Revised

here are the links for active directory implementation with Delphi.

http://www.agnisoft.com/white_papers/active_directory.asp

http://adsi.mvps.org/adsi/Delphi/index.html