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/* * @(#)Key.java 1.57 06/04/21 * * Copyright 2006 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. * SUN PROPRIETARY/CONFIDENTIAL. Use is subject to license terms. */ package java.security; /** * The Key interface is the top-level interface for all keys. It * defines the functionality shared by all key objects. All keys * have three characteristics: * * <UL> * * <LI>An Algorithm * * <P>This is the key algorithm for that key. The key algorithm is usually * an encryption or asymmetric operation algorithm (such as DSA or * RSA), which will work with those algorithms and with related * algorithms (such as MD5 with RSA, SHA-1 with RSA, Raw DSA, etc.) * The name of the algorithm of a key is obtained using the * {@link #getAlgorithm() getAlgorithm} method.<P> * * <LI>An Encoded Form * * <P>This is an external encoded form for the key used when a standard * representation of the key is needed outside the Java Virtual Machine, * as when transmitting the key to some other party. The key * is encoded according to a standard format (such as * X.509 <code>SubjectPublicKeyInfo</code> or PKCS#8), and * is returned using the {@link #getEncoded() getEncoded} method. * Note: The syntax of the ASN.1 type <code>SubjectPublicKeyInfo</code> * is defined as follows: * * <pre> * SubjectPublicKeyInfo ::= SEQUENCE { * algorithm AlgorithmIdentifier, * subjectPublicKey BIT STRING } * * AlgorithmIdentifier ::= SEQUENCE { * algorithm OBJECT IDENTIFIER, * parameters ANY DEFINED BY algorithm OPTIONAL } * </pre> * * For more information, see * <a href="http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2459.txt">RFC 2459: * Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Certificate and CRL Profile</a>. * <P> * * <LI>A Format * * <P>This is the name of the format of the encoded key. It is returned * by the {@link #getFormat() getFormat} method.<P> * * </UL> * * Keys are generally obtained through key generators, certificates, * or various Identity classes used to manage keys. * Keys may also be obtained from key specifications (transparent * representations of the underlying key material) through the use of a key * factory (see {@link KeyFactory}). * * <p> A Key should use KeyRep as its serialized representation. * Note that a serialized Key may contain sensitive information * which should not be exposed in untrusted environments. See the * <a href="../../../platform/serialization/spec/security.html"> * Security Appendix</a> * of the Serialization Specification for more information. * * @see PublicKey * @see PrivateKey * @see KeyPair * @see KeyPairGenerator * @see KeyFactory * @see KeyRep * @see java.security.spec.KeySpec * @see Identity * @see Signer * * @version 1.57 06/04/21 * @author Benjamin Renaud */ public interface Key extends java.io.Serializable { // Declare serialVersionUID to be compatible with JDK1.1 /** * The class fingerprint that is set to indicate * serialization compatibility with a previous * version of the class. */ static final long serialVersionUID = 6603384152749567654L; /** * Returns the standard algorithm name for this key. For * example, "DSA" would indicate that this key is a DSA key. * See Appendix A in the <a href= * "../../../technotes/guides/security/crypto/CryptoSpec.html#AppA"> * Java Cryptography Architecture API Specification & Reference </a> * for information about standard algorithm names. * * @return the name of the algorithm associated with this key. */ public String getAlgorithm(); /** * Returns the name of the primary encoding format of this key, * or null if this key does not support encoding. * The primary encoding format is * named in terms of the appropriate ASN.1 data format, if an * ASN.1 specification for this key exists. * For example, the name of the ASN.1 data format for public * keys is <I>SubjectPublicKeyInfo</I>, as * defined by the X.509 standard; in this case, the returned format is * <code>"X.509"</code>. Similarly, * the name of the ASN.1 data format for private keys is * <I>PrivateKeyInfo</I>, * as defined by the PKCS #8 standard; in this case, the returned format is * <code>"PKCS#8"</code>. * * @return the primary encoding format of the key. */ public String getFormat(); /** * Returns the key in its primary encoding format, or null * if this key does not support encoding. * * @return the encoded key, or null if the key does not support * encoding. */ public byte[] getEncoded(); }