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:

• An Algorithm

  This is the key algorithm for that key. The key algorithm is usually an encryption or asymmetric operation algorithm (such as DSA or RSA), which will work with those algorithms and with related algorithms (such as MD5 with RSA, SHA-1 with RSA, Raw DSA, etc.) The name of the algorithm of a key is obtained using the getAlgorithm method.

• An Encoded Form

  This is an external encoded form for the key used when a standard representation of the key is needed outside the Java Virtual Machine, as when transmitting the key to some other party. The key is encoded according to a standard format (such as X.509 SubjectPublicKeyInfo or PKCS#8), and is returned using the getEncoded method. Note: The syntax of the ASN.1 type SubjectPublicKeyInfo is defined as follows:

  SubjectPublicKeyInfo ::= SEQUENCE {
     algorithm AlgorithmIdentifier,
     subjectPublicKey BIT STRING }
  
   AlgorithmIdentifier ::= SEQUENCE {
     algorithm OBJECT IDENTIFIER,
     parameters ANY DEFINED BY algorithm OPTIONAL }

  For more information, see RFC 5280: Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Certificate and CRL Profile.
• A Format

  This is the name of the format of the encoded key. It is returned by the getFormat method.

Keys are generally obtained through key generators, certificates, or various Identity classes used to manage keys. Keys may also be obtained from key specifications (transparent representations of the underlying key material) through the use of a key factory (see KeyFactory).

A Key should use KeyRep as its serialized representation. Note that a serialized Key may contain sensitive information which should not be exposed in untrusted environments. See the Security Appendix of the Serialization Specification for more information.

Field Detail

serialVersionUID

static final long serialVersionUID

The class fingerprint that is set to indicate serialization compatibility with a previous version of the class.

See Also:

Constant Field Values

Method Detail

getAlgorithm

String getAlgorithm()

Returns the standard algorithm name for this key. For example, "DSA" would indicate that this key is a DSA key. See the Java Security Standard Algorithm Names document for more information.

Returns:

the name of the algorithm associated with this key.

getFormat

String getFormat()

Returns the name of the primary encoding format of this key, or null if this key does not support encoding. The primary encoding format is named in terms of the appropriate ASN.1 data format, if an ASN.1 specification for this key exists. For example, the name of the ASN.1 data format for public keys is SubjectPublicKeyInfo, as defined by the X.509 standard; in this case, the returned format is "X.509". Similarly, the name of the ASN.1 data format for private keys is PrivateKeyInfo, as defined by the PKCS #8 standard; in this case, the returned format is "PKCS#8".

Returns:

the primary encoding format of the key.

getEncoded

byte[] getEncoded()

Returns the key in its primary encoding format, or null if this key does not support encoding.

Returns:

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