001 /* Key.java -- A abstract representation of a digital key
002 Copyright (C) 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
003
004 This file is part of GNU Classpath.
005
006 GNU Classpath is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
007 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
008 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
009 any later version.
010
011 GNU Classpath is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
012 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
013 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
014 General Public License for more details.
015
016 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
017 along with GNU Classpath; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the
018 Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
019 02110-1301 USA.
020
021 Linking this library statically or dynamically with other modules is
022 making a combined work based on this library. Thus, the terms and
023 conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole
024 combination.
025
026 As a special exception, the copyright holders of this library give you
027 permission to link this library with independent modules to produce an
028 executable, regardless of the license terms of these independent
029 modules, and to copy and distribute the resulting executable under
030 terms of your choice, provided that you also meet, for each linked
031 independent module, the terms and conditions of the license of that
032 module. An independent module is a module which is not derived from
033 or based on this library. If you modify this library, you may extend
034 this exception to your version of the library, but you are not
035 obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do so, delete this
036 exception statement from your version. */
037
038 package java.security;
039
040 import java.io.Serializable;
041
042 /**
043 * This interfaces models the base characteristics that all keys must
044 * have. These are: a key algorithm, an encoded form, and a format used
045 * to encode the key. Specific key types inherit from this interface.
046 * Note that since this interface extends <code>Serializable</code>, all
047 * keys may be serialized. Keys are generally obtained through key generators,
048 * including {@link KeyFactory}.
049 *
050 * @author Aaron M. Renn (arenn@urbanophile.com)
051 * @see PublicKey
052 * @see PrivateKey
053 * @see KeyPair
054 * @see KeyPairGenerator
055 * @see KeyFactory
056 * @see KeySpec
057 * @see Identity
058 * @see Signer
059 * @since 1.1
060 * @status updated to 1.4
061 */
062 public interface Key extends Serializable
063 {
064 /**
065 * The version identifier used for serialization.
066 */
067 long serialVersionUID = 6603384152749567654L;
068
069 /**
070 * This method returns the name of the algorithm for this key. This is a
071 * <code>String</code> such as "RSA".
072 *
073 * @return the name of the algorithm in use
074 */
075 String getAlgorithm();
076
077 /**
078 * This method returns the name of the encoding format for this key. This
079 * is the name of the ASN.1 data format used for this key, such as
080 * "X.509" or "PKCS#8". This method returns <code>null</code> if this key
081 * does not have an encoding format.
082 *
083 * @return the name of the encoding format for this key, or null
084 */
085 String getFormat();
086
087 /**
088 * This method returns the encoded form of the key. If this key does not
089 * support encoding, this method returns <code>null</code>.
090 *
091 * @return the encoded form of the key, or null
092 */
093 byte[] getEncoded();
094 } // interface Key