All Packages  Class Hierarchy  This Package  Previous  Next  Index

Interface java.security.Key

public interface Key
extends Serializable
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: Keys are generally obtained through key generators, certificates, or various Identity classes used to manage keys. There are no provisions in this release for the parsing of encoded keys and certificates.

See Also:
PublicKey, PrivateKey, KeyPair, KeyPairGenerator, Identity, IdentityScope, Signer

Method Index

 o getAlgorithm()
Returns the standard algorithm name this key is for.
 o getEncoded()
Returns the encoded key.
 o getFormat()
Returns the format used to encode the key or null if the key does not support encoding.

Methods

 o getAlgorithm
 public abstract String getAlgorithm()
Returns the standard algorithm name this key is for. For example, "DSA" would indicate that this key is a DSA key. Note that this method may return null, when the algorithm this key is for is unknown.

See Appendix A in the Java Cryptography Architecture API Specification & Reference for information about standard algorithm names.

Returns:
the name of the algorithm this key is for, or null if the algorithm this key is for is unknown.
 o getFormat
 public abstract String getFormat()
Returns the format used to encode the key or null if the key does not support encoding.

Returns:
the format used to encode the key.
 o getEncoded
 public abstract byte[] getEncoded()
Returns the encoded key.

Returns:
the encoded key, or null if the key does not support encoding.

All Packages  Class Hierarchy  This Package  Previous  Next  Index

Submit a bug or feature