OpenJDK 1.23 · java.security.Certificate · APIdia, the JavaDoc alternative

This is an interface of abstract methods for managing a variety of identity certificates. An identity certificate is a guarantee by a principal that a public key is that of another principal. (A principal represents an entity such as an individual user, a group, or a corporation.)

In particular, this interface is intended to be a common abstraction for constructs that have different formats but important common uses. For example, different types of certificates, such as X.509 certificates and PGP certificates, share general certificate functionality (the need to encode and decode certificates) and some types of information, such as a public key, the principal whose key it is, and the guarantor guaranteeing that the public key is that of the specified principal. So an implementation of X.509 certificates and an implementation of PGP certificates can both utilize the Certificate interface, even though their formats and additional types and amounts of information stored are different.

Important Note

This interface is useful for cataloging and grouping objects sharing certain common uses. It does not have any semantics of its own. In particular, a Certificate object does not make any statement as to the validity of the binding. It is the duty of the application implementing this interface to verify the certificate and satisfy itself of its validity.

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
public void	decode(InputStream the input stream from which to fetch the data being decoded. stream) Decodes a certificate from an input stream.
public void	encode(OutputStream the output stream to which to encode the certificate. stream) Encodes the certificate to an output stream in a format that can be decoded by the `decode` method.
public String	Returns: the name of the coding format. getFormat() Returns the name of the coding format.
public Principal	Returns: the guarantor which guaranteed the principal-key binding. getGuarantor() Returns the guarantor of the certificate, that is, the principal guaranteeing that the public key associated with this certificate is that of the principal associated with this certificate.
public Principal	Returns: the principal to which this certificate is bound. getPrincipal() Returns the principal of the principal-key pair being guaranteed by the guarantor.
public PublicKey	Returns: the public key that this certificate certifies belongs to a particular principal. getPublicKey() Returns the key of the principal-key pair being guaranteed by the guarantor.
public String	Returns: a string representing the contents of the certificate toString(boolean whether or not to give detailed information about the certificate detailed) Returns a string that represents the contents of the certificate.

Method Detail

decode back to summary

decode	back to summary
public void decode(InputStream stream) throws KeyException, IOException Decodes a certificate from an input stream. The format should be that returned by `getFormat` and produced by `encode`. Parameters stream:InputStream the input stream from which to fetch the data being decoded. Exceptions KeyException: if the certificate is not properly initialized, or data is missing, etc. IOException: if an exception occurs while trying to input the encoded certificate from the input stream. See Also `encode`, `getFormat`

public void decode(InputStream stream) throws KeyException, IOException

Decodes a certificate from an input stream. The format should be that returned by getFormat and produced by encode.

Parameters

stream:InputStream: the input stream from which to fetch the data being decoded.

Exceptions

KeyException:: if the certificate is not properly initialized, or data is missing, etc.
IOException:: if an exception occurs while trying to input the encoded certificate from the input stream.

See Also

encode, getFormat

encode back to summary

encode	back to summary
public void encode(OutputStream stream) throws KeyException, IOException Encodes the certificate to an output stream in a format that can be decoded by the `decode` method. Parameters stream:OutputStream the output stream to which to encode the certificate. Exceptions KeyException: if the certificate is not properly initialized, or data is missing, etc. IOException: if a stream exception occurs while trying to output the encoded certificate to the output stream. See Also `decode`, `getFormat`

public void encode(OutputStream stream) throws KeyException, IOException

Encodes the certificate to an output stream in a format that can be decoded by the decode method.

Parameters

stream:OutputStream: the output stream to which to encode the certificate.

Exceptions

KeyException:: if the certificate is not properly initialized, or data is missing, etc.
IOException:: if a stream exception occurs while trying to output the encoded certificate to the output stream.

See Also

decode, getFormat

getFormat back to summary

getFormat	back to summary
public String getFormat() Returns the name of the coding format. This is used as a hint to find an appropriate parser. It could be "X.509", "PGP", etc. This is the format produced and understood by the `encode` and `decode` methods. Returns:String the name of the coding format.

public String getFormat()

Returns the name of the coding format. This is used as a hint to find an appropriate parser. It could be "X.509", "PGP", etc. This is the format produced and understood by the encode and decode methods.

Returns:String: the name of the coding format.

getGuarantor	back to summary
public Principal getGuarantor() Returns the guarantor of the certificate, that is, the principal guaranteeing that the public key associated with this certificate is that of the principal associated with this certificate. For X.509 certificates, the guarantor will typically be a Certificate Authority (such as the United States Postal Service or Verisign, Inc.). Returns:Principal the guarantor which guaranteed the principal-key binding.

getGuarantor

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public Principal getGuarantor()

Returns the guarantor of the certificate, that is, the principal guaranteeing that the public key associated with this certificate is that of the principal associated with this certificate. For X.509 certificates, the guarantor will typically be a Certificate Authority (such as the United States Postal Service or Verisign, Inc.).

Returns:Principal: the guarantor which guaranteed the principal-key binding.

getPrincipal	back to summary
public Principal getPrincipal() Returns the principal of the principal-key pair being guaranteed by the guarantor. Returns:Principal the principal to which this certificate is bound.

getPrincipal

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public Principal getPrincipal()

Returns the principal of the principal-key pair being guaranteed by the guarantor.

Returns:Principal: the principal to which this certificate is bound.

getPublicKey	back to summary
public PublicKey getPublicKey() Returns the key of the principal-key pair being guaranteed by the guarantor. Returns:PublicKey the public key that this certificate certifies belongs to a particular principal.

getPublicKey

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public PublicKey getPublicKey()

Returns the key of the principal-key pair being guaranteed by the guarantor.

Returns:PublicKey: the public key that this certificate certifies belongs to a particular principal.

toString	back to summary
public String toString(boolean detailed) Returns a string that represents the contents of the certificate. Parameters detailed:boolean whether or not to give detailed information about the certificate Returns:String a string representing the contents of the certificate

toString

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public String toString(boolean detailed)

Returns a string that represents the contents of the certificate.

Parameters

detailed:boolean: whether or not to give detailed information about the certificate

Returns:String

a string representing the contents of the certificate

public Interface Certificate

Method Summary

Method Detail