| /* Key.java -- A abstract representation of a digital key |
| Copyright (C) 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
| |
| This file is part of GNU Classpath. |
| |
| GNU Classpath is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify |
| it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by |
| the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) |
| any later version. |
| |
| GNU Classpath is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but |
| WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of |
| MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU |
| General Public License for more details. |
| |
| You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License |
| along with GNU Classpath; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the |
| Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA |
| 02111-1307 USA. |
| |
| Linking this library statically or dynamically with other modules is |
| making a combined work based on this library. Thus, the terms and |
| conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole |
| combination. |
| |
| As a special exception, the copyright holders of this library give you |
| permission to link this library with independent modules to produce an |
| executable, regardless of the license terms of these independent |
| modules, and to copy and distribute the resulting executable under |
| terms of your choice, provided that you also meet, for each linked |
| independent module, the terms and conditions of the license of that |
| module. An independent module is a module which is not derived from |
| or based on this library. If you modify this library, you may extend |
| this exception to your version of the library, but you are not |
| obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do so, delete this |
| exception statement from your version. */ |
| |
| package java.security; |
| |
| import java.io.Serializable; |
| |
| /** |
| * This interfaces models the base characteristics that all keys must |
| * have. These are: a key algorithm, an encoded form, and a format used |
| * to encode the key. Specific key types inherit from this interface. |
| * Note that since this interface extends <code>Serializable</code>, all |
| * keys may be serialized. Keys are generally obtained through key generators, |
| * including {@link KeyFactory}. |
| * |
| * @author Aaron M. Renn (arenn@urbanophile.com) |
| * @see PublicKey |
| * @see PrivateKey |
| * @see KeyPair |
| * @see KeyPairGenerator |
| * @see KeyFactory |
| * @see KeySpec |
| * @see Identity |
| * @see Signer |
| * @since 1.1 |
| * @status updated to 1.4 |
| */ |
| public interface Key extends Serializable |
| { |
| /** |
| * The version identifier used for serialization. |
| */ |
| long serialVersionUID = 6603384152749567654L; |
| |
| /** |
| * This method returns the name of the algorithm for this key. This is a |
| * <code>String</code> such as "RSA". |
| * |
| * @return the name of the algorithm in use |
| */ |
| String getAlgorithm(); |
| |
| /** |
| * This method returns the name of the encoding format for this key. This |
| * is the name of the ASN.1 data format used for this key, such as |
| * "X.509" or "PKCS#8". This method returns <code>null</code> if this key |
| * does not have an encoding format. |
| * |
| * @return the name of the encoding format for this key, or null |
| */ |
| String getFormat(); |
| |
| /** |
| * This method returns the encoded form of the key. If this key does not |
| * support encoding, this method returns <code>null</code>. |
| * |
| * @return the encoded form of the key, or null |
| */ |
| byte[] getEncoded(); |
| } // interface Key |