A method and system for capturing an electronic signature of a user in a Java-based environment on a personal digital assistant. A user is prompted by an applet operating on the personal digital assistant, handling a canvas by the applet, and capturing an instance of the electronic signature on the canvas. The canvas encodes the instance of the electronic signature in a file and transfers the file by the canvas to the applet. A personal digital assistant may include a screen sensitive to pressure for capturing a signature and an application adapted to capture and attach the signature to a business object. The application may also include an applet adapted to prompt a user and adapted to handle a canvas. The canvas is adapted to capture an instance of the electronic signature and encode the instance in a file. The file is transferred by the canvas to the applet.