libjava/java/security/Key.java

   1 /* Key.java -- A abstract representation of a digital key
   2    Copyright (C) 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005  Free Software Foundation, Inc.
   3
   4 This file is part of GNU Classpath.
   5
   6 GNU Classpath is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
   7 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
   8 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
   9 any later version.
  10
  11 GNU Classpath is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
  12 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
  13 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
  14 General Public License for more details.
  15
  16 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
  17 along with GNU Classpath; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to the
  18 Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA
  19 02111-1307 USA.
  20
  21 Linking this library statically or dynamically with other modules is
  22 making a combined work based on this library.  Thus, the terms and
  23 conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole
  24 combination.
  25
  26 As a special exception, the copyright holders of this library give you
  27 permission to link this library with independent modules to produce an
  28 executable, regardless of the license terms of these independent
  29 modules, and to copy and distribute the resulting executable under
  30 terms of your choice, provided that you also meet, for each linked
  31 independent module, the terms and conditions of the license of that
  32 module.  An independent module is a module which is not derived from
  33 or based on this library.  If you modify this library, you may extend
  34 this exception to your version of the library, but you are not
  35 obligated to do so.  If you do not wish to do so, delete this
  36 exception statement from your version. */
  37
  38 package java.security;
  39
  40 import java.io.Serializable;
  41
  42 /**
  43  * This interfaces models the base characteristics that all keys must
  44  * have.  These are:  a key algorithm, an encoded form, and a format used
  45  * to encode the key.  Specific key types inherit from this interface.
  46  * Note that since this interface extends <code>Serializable</code>, all
  47  * keys may be serialized. Keys are generally obtained through key generators,
  48  * including {@link KeyFactory}.
  49  *
  50  * @author Aaron M. Renn (arenn@urbanophile.com)
  51  * @see PublicKey
  52  * @see PrivateKey
  53  * @see KeyPair
  54  * @see KeyPairGenerator
  55  * @see KeyFactory
  56  * @see KeySpec
  57  * @see Identity
  58  * @see Signer
  59  * @since 1.1
  60  * @status updated to 1.4
  61  */
  62 public interface Key extends Serializable
  63 {
  64   /**
  65    * The version identifier used for serialization.
  66    */
  67   long serialVersionUID = 6603384152749567654L;
  68
  69   /**
  70    * This method returns the name of the algorithm for this key.  This is a
  71    * <code>String</code> such as "RSA".
  72    *
  73    * @return the name of the algorithm in use
  74    */
  75   String getAlgorithm();
  76
  77   /**
  78    * This method returns the name of the encoding format for this key.  This
  79    * is the name of the ASN.1 data format used for this key, such as
  80    * "X.509" or "PKCS#8".  This method returns <code>null</code> if this key
  81    * does not have an encoding format.
  82    *
  83    * @return the name of the encoding format for this key, or null
  84    */
  85   String getFormat();
  86
  87   /**
  88    * This method returns the encoded form of the key.  If this key does not
  89    * support encoding, this method returns <code>null</code>.
  90    *
  91    * @return the encoded form of the key, or null
  92    */
  93   byte[] getEncoded();
  94 } // interface Key