java.security.cert

Class CertPath

public abstract class CertPath extends Object implements Serializable

This class represents an immutable sequence, or path, of security certificates. The path type must match the type of each certificate in the path, or in other words, for all instances of cert in a certpath object, cert.getType().equals(certpath.getType()) will return true.

Since this class is immutable, it is thread-safe. During serialization, the path is consolidated into a {@link CertPathRep}, which preserves the data regardless of the underlying implementation of the path.

Since: 1.4

UNKNOWN: updated to 1.4

Nested Class Summary
protected static class	CertPath.CertPathRep The serialized representation of a path.

Constructor Summary
protected	CertPath(String type) Create a certificate path with the given type.

Method Summary
boolean	equals(Object o) Compares this path to another for semantic equality.
abstract List<? extends Certificate>	getCertificates() Returns the immutable, thread-safe list of certificates in this path.
abstract byte[]	getEncoded() Returns the encoded form of this path, via the default encoding.
abstract byte[]	getEncoded(String encoding) Returns the encoded form of this path, via the specified encoding.
abstract Iterator<String>	getEncodings() Get an immutable iterator over the path encodings (all String names), starting with the default encoding.
String	getType() Get the (non-null) type of all certificates in the path.
int	hashCode() Returns the hashcode of this certificate path.
String	toString()
protected Object	writeReplace() Serializes the path in its encoded form, to ensure reserialization with the appropriate factory object without worrying about list implementation.

Constructor Detail

CertPath

protected CertPath(String type)

Create a certificate path with the given type. Most code should use {@link CertificateFactory} to create CertPaths.

Parameters: type the type of the path

Method Detail

equals

public boolean equals(Object o)

Compares this path to another for semantic equality. To be equal, both must be instances of CertPath, with the same type, and identical certificate lists. Overriding classes must not change this behavior.

Parameters: o the object to compare to

Returns: true if the two are equal

getCertificates

public abstract List<? extends Certificate> getCertificates()

Returns the immutable, thread-safe list of certificates in this path.

Returns: the list of certificates, non-null but possibly empty

getEncoded

public abstract byte[] getEncoded()

Returns the encoded form of this path, via the default encoding.

Returns: the encoded form

Throws: CertificateEncodingException if encoding fails

getEncoded

public abstract byte[] getEncoded(String encoding)

Returns the encoded form of this path, via the specified encoding.

Parameters: encoding the encoding to use

Returns: the encoded form

Throws: CertificateEncodingException if encoding fails or does not exist

getEncodings

public abstract Iterator<String> getEncodings()

Get an immutable iterator over the path encodings (all String names), starting with the default encoding. The iterator will throw an UnsupportedOperationException if an attempt is made to remove items from the list.

Returns: the iterator of supported encodings in the path

getType

public String getType()

Get the (non-null) type of all certificates in the path.

Returns: the path certificate type

hashCode

public int hashCode()

Returns the hashcode of this certificate path. This is defined as:
31 * getType().hashCode() + getCertificates().hashCode().

Returns: the hashcode

toString

public String toString()

writeReplace

protected Object writeReplace()

Serializes the path in its encoded form, to ensure reserialization with the appropriate factory object without worrying about list implementation. The result will always be an instance of {@link CertPathRep}.

Returns: the replacement object

Throws: ObjectStreamException if the replacement creation fails