- All Implemented Interfaces:
Serializable
This is an abstract class that defines the methods common to all
CertPaths. Subclasses can handle different kinds of
certificates (X.509, PGP, etc.).
All CertPath objects have a type, a list of
Certificates, and one or more supported encodings. Because the
CertPath class is immutable, a CertPath cannot
change in any externally visible way after being constructed. This
stipulation applies to all public fields and methods of this class and any
added or overridden by subclasses.
The type is a String that identifies the type of
Certificates in the certification path. For each
certificate cert in a certification path certPath,
cert.getType().equals(certPath.getType()) must be
true.
The list of Certificates is an ordered List of
zero or more Certificates. This List and all
of the Certificates contained in it must be immutable.
Each CertPath object must support one or more encodings
so that the object can be translated into a byte array for storage or
transmission to other parties. Preferably, these encodings should be
well-documented standards (such as PKCS#7). One of the encodings supported
by a CertPath is considered the default encoding. This
encoding is used if no encoding is explicitly requested (for the
getEncoded() method, for instance).
All CertPath objects are also Serializable.
CertPath objects are resolved into an alternate
CertPathRep object during serialization. This allows
a CertPath object to be serialized into an equivalent
representation regardless of its underlying implementation.
CertPath objects can be created with a
CertificateFactory or they can be returned by other classes,
such as a CertPathBuilder.
By convention, X.509 CertPaths (consisting of
X509Certificates), are ordered starting with the target
certificate and ending with a certificate issued by the trust anchor. That
is, the issuer of one certificate is the subject of the following one. The
certificate representing the TrustAnchor should not be
included in the certification path. Unvalidated X.509 CertPaths
may not follow these conventions. PKIX CertPathValidators will
detect any departure from these conventions that cause the certification
path to be invalid and throw a CertPathValidatorException.
Every implementation of the Java platform is required to support the
following standard CertPath encodings:
PKCS7PkiPath
Concurrent Access
All CertPath objects must be thread-safe. That is, multiple
threads may concurrently invoke the methods defined in this class on a
single CertPath object (or more than one) with no
ill effects. This is also true for the List returned by
CertPath.getCertificates.
Requiring CertPath objects to be immutable and thread-safe
allows them to be passed around to various pieces of code without worrying
about coordinating access. Providing this thread-safety is
generally not difficult, since the CertPath and
List objects in question are immutable.
- Since:
- 1.4
- See Also:
-
Nested Class Summary
Nested ClassesModifier and TypeClassDescriptionprotected static classAlternateCertPathclass for serialization. -
Constructor Summary
Constructors -
Method Summary
Modifier and TypeMethodDescriptionbooleanCompares this certification path for equality with the specified object.abstract List<? extends Certificate> Returns the list of certificates in this certification path.abstract byte[]Returns the encoded form of this certification path, using the default encoding.abstract byte[]getEncoded(String encoding) Returns the encoded form of this certification path, using the specified encoding.Returns an iteration of the encodings supported by this certification path, with the default encoding first.getType()Returns the type ofCertificates in this certification path.inthashCode()Returns the hashcode for this certification path.toString()Returns a string representation of this certification path.protected ObjectReplaces theCertPathto be serialized with aCertPathRepobject containing theCertificatetype and encoded bytes of theCertPath.
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Constructor Details
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CertPath
Creates aCertPathof the specified type.This constructor is protected because most users should use a
CertificateFactoryto createCertPaths.- Parameters:
type- the standard name of the type ofCertificates in this path
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Method Details
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getType
Returns the type ofCertificates in this certification path. This is the same string that would be returned bycert.getType()for allCertificates in the certification path.- Returns:
- the type of
Certificates in this certification path (never null)
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getEncodings
Returns an iteration of the encodings supported by this certification path, with the default encoding first. Attempts to modify the returnedIteratorvia itsremovemethod result in anUnsupportedOperationException.- Returns:
- an
Iteratorover the names of the supported encodings (as Strings)
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equals
Compares this certification path for equality with the specified object. TwoCertPaths are equal if and only if their types are equal and their certificateLists (and by implication theCertificates in thoseLists) are equal. ACertPathis never equal to an object that is not aCertPath.This algorithm is implemented by this method. If it is overridden, the behavior specified here must be maintained.
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hashCode
public int hashCode()Returns the hashcode for this certification path. The hash code of a certification path is defined to be the result of the following calculation:
This ensures thathashCode = path.getType().hashCode(); hashCode = 31*hashCode + path.getCertificates().hashCode();path1.equals(path2)implies thatpath1.hashCode()==path2.hashCode()for any two certification paths,path1andpath2, as required by the general contract ofObject.hashCode. -
toString
Returns a string representation of this certification path. This calls thetoStringmethod on each of theCertificates in the path. -
getEncoded
Returns the encoded form of this certification path, using the default encoding.- Returns:
- the encoded bytes
- Throws:
CertificateEncodingException- if an encoding error occurs
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getEncoded
Returns the encoded form of this certification path, using the specified encoding.- Parameters:
encoding- the name of the encoding to use- Returns:
- the encoded bytes
- Throws:
CertificateEncodingException- if an encoding error occurs or the encoding requested is not supported
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getCertificates
Returns the list of certificates in this certification path. TheListreturned must be immutable and thread-safe.- Returns:
- an immutable
ListofCertificates (may be empty, but not null)
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writeReplace
Replaces theCertPathto be serialized with aCertPathRepobject containing theCertificatetype and encoded bytes of theCertPath.- Returns:
- a
CertPathRepcontaining theCertificatetype and encoded bytes of theCertPath - Throws:
ObjectStreamException- if aCertPathRepobject representing this certification path could not be created
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