Source for java.security.Key

   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., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
  19: 02110-1301 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