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25 
26 package java.security;
27 
28 /**
29  * The Key interface is the top-level interface for all keys. It
30  * defines the functionality shared by all key objects. All keys
31  * have three characteristics:
32  *
33  * <UL>
34  *
35  * <LI>An Algorithm
36  *
37  * <P>This is the key algorithm for that key. The key algorithm is usually
38  * an encryption or asymmetric operation algorithm (such as DSA or
39  * RSA), which will work with those algorithms and with related
40  * algorithms (such as MD5 with RSA, SHA-1 with RSA, Raw DSA, etc.)
41  * The name of the algorithm of a key is obtained using the
42  * {@link #getAlgorithm() getAlgorithm} method.
43  *
44  * <LI>An Encoded Form
45  *
46  * <P>This is an external encoded form for the key used when a standard
47  * representation of the key is needed outside the Java Virtual Machine,
48  * as when transmitting the key to some other party. The key
49  * is encoded according to a standard format (such as
50  * X.509 {@code SubjectPublicKeyInfo} or PKCS#8), and
51  * is returned using the {@link #getEncoded() getEncoded} method.
52  * Note: The syntax of the ASN.1 type {@code SubjectPublicKeyInfo}
53  * is defined as follows:
54  *
55  * <pre>
56  * SubjectPublicKeyInfo ::= SEQUENCE {
57  *   algorithm AlgorithmIdentifier,
58  *   subjectPublicKey BIT STRING }
59  *
60  * AlgorithmIdentifier ::= SEQUENCE {
61  *   algorithm OBJECT IDENTIFIER,
62  *   parameters ANY DEFINED BY algorithm OPTIONAL }
63  * </pre>
64  *
65  * For more information, see
66  * <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5280">RFC 5280:
67  * Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Certificate and CRL Profile</a>.
68  *
69  * <LI>A Format
70  *
71  * <P>This is the name of the format of the encoded key. It is returned
72  * by the {@link #getFormat() getFormat} method.
73  *
74  * </UL>
75  *
76  * Keys are generally obtained through key generators, certificates,
77  * key stores or other classes used to manage keys.
78  * Keys may also be obtained from key specifications (transparent
79  * representations of the underlying key material) through the use of a key
80  * factory (see {@link KeyFactory}).
81  *
82  * <p> A Key should use KeyRep as its serialized representation.
83  * Note that a serialized Key may contain sensitive information
84  * which should not be exposed in untrusted environments.  See the
85  * <a href="{@docRoot}/../specs/serialization/security.html">
86  * Security Appendix</a>
87  * of the Serialization Specification for more information.
88  *
89  * @see PublicKey
90  * @see PrivateKey
91  * @see KeyPair
92  * @see KeyPairGenerator
93  * @see KeyFactory
94  * @see KeyRep
95  * @see java.security.spec.KeySpec
96  * @see Identity
97  * @see Signer
98  *
99  * @author Benjamin Renaud
100  * @since 1.1
101  */
102 
103 public interface Key extends java.io.Serializable {
104 
105     // Declare serialVersionUID to be compatible with JDK1.1
106 
107    /**
108     * The class fingerprint that is set to indicate
109     * serialization compatibility with a previous
110     * version of the class.
111     *
112     * @deprecated A {@code serialVersionUID} field in an interface is
113     * ineffectual. Do not use; no replacement.
114     */
115     @Deprecated
116     @SuppressWarnings("serial")
117     @java.io.Serial
118     static final long serialVersionUID = 6603384152749567654L;
119 
120     /**
121      * Returns the standard algorithm name for this key. For
122      * example, "DSA" would indicate that this key is a DSA key.
123      * See the key related sections (KeyFactory, KeyGenerator,
124      * KeyPairGenerator, and SecretKeyFactory) in the <a href=
125      * "{@docRoot}/../specs/security/standard-names.html">
126      * Java Security Standard Algorithm Names Specification</a>
127      * for information about standard key algorithm names.
128      *
129      * @return the name of the algorithm associated with this key.
130      */
getAlgorithm()131     public String getAlgorithm();
132 
133     /**
134      * Returns the name of the primary encoding format of this key,
135      * or null if this key does not support encoding.
136      * The primary encoding format is
137      * named in terms of the appropriate ASN.1 data format, if an
138      * ASN.1 specification for this key exists.
139      * For example, the name of the ASN.1 data format for public
140      * keys is <I>SubjectPublicKeyInfo</I>, as
141      * defined by the X.509 standard; in this case, the returned format is
142      * {@code "X.509"}. Similarly,
143      * the name of the ASN.1 data format for private keys is
144      * <I>PrivateKeyInfo</I>,
145      * as defined by the PKCS #8 standard; in this case, the returned format is
146      * {@code "PKCS#8"}.
147      *
148      * @return the primary encoding format of the key.
149      */
getFormat()150     public String getFormat();
151 
152     /**
153      * Returns the key in its primary encoding format, or null
154      * if this key does not support encoding.
155      *
156      * @return the encoded key, or null if the key does not support
157      * encoding.
158      */
getEncoded()159     public byte[] getEncoded();
160 }
161