java.security
class Identity

java.lang.Object java.security.Identity

All Implemented Interfaces:

Serializable, Principal

Direct Known Subclasses:

IdentityScope, Signer

public abstract class Identity
extends Object
implements Principal, Serializable

This class represents identities: real-world objects such as people, companies or organizations whose identities can be authenticated using their public keys. Identities may also be more abstract (or concrete) constructs, such as daemon threads or smart cards.

All Identity objects have a name and a public key. Names are immutable. Identities may also be scoped. That is, if an Identity is specified to have a particular scope, then the name and public key of the Identity are unique within that scope.

An Identity also has a set of certificates (all certifying its own public key). The Principal names specified in these certificates need not be the same, only the key.

An Identity can be subclassed, to include postal and email addresses, telephone numbers, images of faces and logos, and so on.

Identity

protected Identity()

Constructor for serialization only.

Identity

public Identity(String name)

Constructs an identity with the specified name and no scope.

Parameters:

name - the identity name.

Identity

public Identity(String name,
                IdentityScope scope)
         throws KeyManagementException

Constructs an identity with the specified name and scope.

Parameters:

name - the identity name.

scope - the scope of the identity.

Throws:

KeyManagementException - if there is already an identity with the same name in the scope.

addCertificate

public void addCertificate(Certificate certificate)
                    throws KeyManagementException

Adds a certificate for this identity. If the identity has a public key, the public key in the certificate must be the same, and if the identity does not have a public key, the identity's public key is set to be that specified in the certificate.

First, if there is a security manager, its checkSecurityAccess method is called with "addIdentityCertificate" as its argument to see if it's ok to add a certificate.

Parameters:

certificate - the certificate to be added.

Throws:

KeyManagementException - if the certificate is not valid, if the public key in the certificate being added conflicts with this identity's public key, or if another exception occurs.

certificates

public Certificate[] certificates()

Returns a copy of all the certificates for this identity.

Returns:

a copy of all the certificates for this identity.

equals

public final boolean equals(Object identity)

Tests for equality between the specified object and this identity. This first tests to see if the entities actually refer to the same object, in which case it returns true. Next, it checks to see if the entities have the same name and the same scope. If they do, the method returns true. Otherwise, it calls {@link #identityEquals(Identity) identityEquals}, which subclasses should override.

Overrides:

equals in class Object

Parameters:

identity - the object to test for equality with this identity.

Returns:

true if the objects are considered equal, false otherwise.

getInfo

public String getInfo()

Returns general information previously specified for this identity.

Returns:

general information about this identity.

getName

public final String getName()

Returns this identity's name.

Returns:

the name of this identity.

getPublicKey

public PublicKey getPublicKey()

Returns this identity's public key.

Returns:

the public key for this identity.

getScope

public final IdentityScope getScope()

Returns this identity's scope.

Returns:

the scope of this identity.

hashCode

public int hashCode()

Returns a hashcode for this identity.

Overrides:

hashCode in class Object

Returns:

a hashcode for this identity.

identityEquals

protected boolean identityEquals(Identity identity)

Tests for equality between the specified identity and this identity. This method should be overriden by subclasses to test for equality. The default behavior is to return true if the names and public keys are equal.

Parameters:

identity - the identity to test for equality with this identity.

Returns:

true if the identities are considered equal, false otherwise.

removeCertificate

public void removeCertificate(Certificate certificate)
                       throws KeyManagementException

Removes a certificate from this identity.

First, if there is a security manager, its checkSecurityAccess method is called with "removeIdentityCertificate" as its argument to see if it's ok to remove a certificate.

Parameters:

certificate - the certificate to be removed.

Throws:

KeyManagementException - if the certificate is missing, or if another exception occurs.

setInfo

public void setInfo(String info)

Specifies a general information string for this identity.

First, if there is a security manager, its checkSecurityAccess method is called with "setIdentityInfo" as its argument to see if it's ok to specify the information string.

Parameters:

info - the information string.

setPublicKey

public void setPublicKey(PublicKey key)
                  throws KeyManagementException

Sets this identity's public key. The old key and all of this identity's certificates are removed by this operation.

First, if there is a security manager, its checkSecurityAccess method is called with "setIdentityPublicKey" as its argument to see if it's ok to set the public key.

Parameters:

key - the public key for this identity.

Throws:

KeyManagementException - if another identity in the identity's scope has the same public key, or if another exception occurs.

toString

public String toString()

Returns a short string describing this identity, telling its name and its scope (if any).

First, if there is a security manager, its checkSecurityAccess method is called with "printIdentity" as its argument to see if it's ok to return the string.

Overrides:

toString in class Object

Returns:

information about this identity, such as its name and the name of its scope (if any).

toString

public String toString(boolean detailed)

Returns a string representation of this identity, with optionally more details than that provided by the toString method without any arguments.

First, if there is a security manager, its checkSecurityAccess method is called with "printIdentity" as its argument to see if it's ok to return the string.

Parameters:

detailed - whether or not to provide detailed information.

Returns:

information about this identity. If detailed is true, then this method returns more information than that provided by the toString method without any arguments.