CertStore (Java 2 Platform SE 5.0) (original) (raw)

java.security.cert

Class CertStore

java.lang.Object extended by java.security.cert.CertStore

public class CertStore

A class for retrieving Certificates and CRLs from a repository.

This class uses a provider-based architecture, as described in the Java Cryptography Architecture. To create a CertStore, call one of the staticgetInstance methods, passing in the type ofCertStore desired, any applicable initialization parameters and optionally the name of the provider desired.

Once the CertStore has been created, it can be used to retrieve Certificates and CRLs by calling itsgetCertificates andgetCRLs methods.

Unlike a KeyStore, which provides access to a cache of private keys and trusted certificates, a CertStore is designed to provide access to a potentially vast repository of untrusted certificates and CRLs. For example, an LDAP implementation of CertStore provides access to certificates and CRLs stored in one or more directories using the LDAP protocol and the schema as defined in the RFC service attribute. See Appendix A in the Java Certification Path API Programmer's Guide for more information about standard CertStore types.

Concurrent Access

All public methods of CertStore objects must be thread-safe. That is, multiple threads may concurrently invoke these methods on a single CertStore object (or more than one) with no ill effects. This allows a CertPathBuilder to search for a CRL while simultaneously searching for further certificates, for instance.

The static methods of this class are also guaranteed to be thread-safe. Multiple threads may concurrently invoke the static methods defined in this class with no ill effects.

Since:

1.4

Constructor Summary
protected	[CertStore](../../../java/security/cert/CertStore.html#CertStore%28java.security.cert.CertStoreSpi, java.security.Provider, java.lang.String, java.security.cert.CertStoreParameters%29)(CertStoreSpi storeSpi,Provider provider,String type,CertStoreParameters params) Creates a CertStore object of the given type, and encapsulates the given provider implementation (SPI object) in it.

Method Summary
Collection<? extends Certificate>	getCertificates(CertSelector selector) Returns a Collection of Certificates that match the specified selector.
CertStoreParameters	getCertStoreParameters() Returns the parameters used to initialize this CertStore.
Collection<? extends CRL>	getCRLs(CRLSelector selector) Returns a Collection of CRLs that match the specified selector.
static String	getDefaultType() Returns the default CertStore type as specified in the Java security properties file, or the string "LDAP" if no such property exists.
static CertStore	[getInstance](../../../java/security/cert/CertStore.html#getInstance%28java.lang.String, java.security.cert.CertStoreParameters%29)(String type,CertStoreParameters params) Returns a CertStore object that implements the specifiedCertStore type and is initialized with the specified parameters.
static CertStore	[getInstance](../../../java/security/cert/CertStore.html#getInstance%28java.lang.String, java.security.cert.CertStoreParameters, java.security.Provider%29)(String type,CertStoreParameters params,Provider provider) Returns a CertStore object that implements the specifiedCertStore type, as supplied by the specified provider and initialized with the specified parameters.
static CertStore	[getInstance](../../../java/security/cert/CertStore.html#getInstance%28java.lang.String, java.security.cert.CertStoreParameters, java.lang.String%29)(String type,CertStoreParameters params,String provider) Returns a CertStore object that implements the specifiedCertStore type, as supplied by the specified provider and initialized with the specified parameters.
Provider	getProvider() Returns the provider of this CertStore.
String	getType() Returns the type of this CertStore.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, [wait](../../../java/lang/Object.html#wait%28long, int%29)

Constructor Detail

CertStore

protected CertStore(CertStoreSpi storeSpi, Provider provider, String type, CertStoreParameters params)

Creates a CertStore object of the given type, and encapsulates the given provider implementation (SPI object) in it.

Parameters:

storeSpi - the provider implementation

provider - the provider

type - the type

params - the initialization parameters (may be null)

Method Detail

getCertificates

public final Collection<? extends Certificate> getCertificates(CertSelector selector) throws CertStoreException

Returns a Collection of Certificates that match the specified selector. If no Certificates match the selector, an empty Collection will be returned.

For some CertStore types, the resultingCollection may not contain all of theCertificates that match the selector. For instance, an LDAP CertStore may not search all entries in the directory. Instead, it may just search entries that are likely to contain the Certificates it is looking for.

Some CertStore implementations (especially LDAP CertStores) may throw a CertStoreException unless a non-null CertSelector is provided that includes specific criteria that can be used to find the certificates. Issuer and/or subject names are especially useful criteria.

Parameters:

selector - A CertSelector used to select whichCertificates should be returned. Specify null to return all Certificates (if supported).

Returns:

A Collection of Certificates that match the specified selector (never null)

Throws:

[CertStoreException](../../../java/security/cert/CertStoreException.html "class in java.security.cert") - if an exception occurs

getCRLs

public final Collection<? extends CRL> getCRLs(CRLSelector selector) throws CertStoreException

Returns a Collection of CRLs that match the specified selector. If no CRLs match the selector, an empty Collection will be returned.

For some CertStore types, the resultingCollection may not contain all of theCRLs that match the selector. For instance, an LDAP CertStore may not search all entries in the directory. Instead, it may just search entries that are likely to contain the CRLs it is looking for.

Some CertStore implementations (especially LDAP CertStores) may throw a CertStoreException unless a non-null CRLSelector is provided that includes specific criteria that can be used to find the CRLs. Issuer names and/or the certificate to be checked are especially useful.

Parameters:

selector - A CRLSelector used to select whichCRLs should be returned. Specify null to return all CRLs (if supported).

Returns:

A Collection of CRLs that match the specified selector (never null)

Throws:

[CertStoreException](../../../java/security/cert/CertStoreException.html "class in java.security.cert") - if an exception occurs

getInstance

public static CertStore getInstance(String type, CertStoreParameters params) throws InvalidAlgorithmParameterException, NoSuchAlgorithmException

Returns a CertStore object that implements the specifiedCertStore type and is initialized with the specified parameters.

If the default provider package provides an implementation of the specified CertStore type, an instance ofCertStore containing that implementation is returned. If the requested type is not available in the default package, other packages are searched.

The CertStore that is returned is initialized with the specified CertStoreParameters. The type of parameters needed may vary between different types of CertStores. Note that the specified CertStoreParameters object is cloned.

Parameters:

type - the name of the requested CertStore type

params - the initialization parameters (may be null)

Returns:

a CertStore object that implements the specifiedCertStore type

Throws:

[NoSuchAlgorithmException](../../../java/security/NoSuchAlgorithmException.html "class in java.security") - if the requested type is not available in the default provider package or any of the other provider packages that were searched

[InvalidAlgorithmParameterException](../../../java/security/InvalidAlgorithmParameterException.html "class in java.security") - if the specified initialization parameters are inappropriate for this CertStore

getInstance

public static CertStore getInstance(String type, CertStoreParameters params, String provider) throws InvalidAlgorithmParameterException, NoSuchAlgorithmException, NoSuchProviderException

Returns a CertStore object that implements the specifiedCertStore type, as supplied by the specified provider and initialized with the specified parameters.

Parameters:

type - the requested CertStore type

params - the initialization parameters (may be null)

provider - the name of the provider

Returns:

a CertStore object that implements the specified type, as supplied by the specified provider

Throws:

[NoSuchAlgorithmException](../../../java/security/NoSuchAlgorithmException.html "class in java.security") - if the requested type is not available from the specified provider

[NoSuchProviderException](../../../java/security/NoSuchProviderException.html "class in java.security") - if the provider has not been configured

[IllegalArgumentException](../../../java/lang/IllegalArgumentException.html "class in java.lang") - if the provider is null

getInstance

public static CertStore getInstance(String type, CertStoreParameters params, Provider provider) throws NoSuchAlgorithmException, InvalidAlgorithmParameterException

Returns a CertStore object that implements the specifiedCertStore type, as supplied by the specified provider and initialized with the specified parameters. Note: the provider doesn't have to be registered.

Parameters:

type - the requested CertStore type

params - the initialization parameters (may be null)

provider - the provider

Returns:

a CertStore object that implements the specified type, as supplied by the specified provider

Throws:

[NoSuchAlgorithmException](../../../java/security/NoSuchAlgorithmException.html "class in java.security") - if the requested type is not available from the specified provider

[IllegalArgumentException](../../../java/lang/IllegalArgumentException.html "class in java.lang") - if the provider is null

getCertStoreParameters

public final CertStoreParameters getCertStoreParameters()

Returns the parameters used to initialize this CertStore. Note that the CertStoreParameters object is cloned before it is returned.

Returns:

the parameters used to initialize this CertStore (may be null)

getType

public final String getType()

Returns the type of this CertStore.

Returns:

the type of this CertStore

getProvider

public final Provider getProvider()

Returns the provider of this CertStore.

Returns:

the provider of this CertStore

getDefaultType

public static final String getDefaultType()

Returns the default CertStore type as specified in the Java security properties file, or the string "LDAP" if no such property exists. The Java security properties file is located in the file named <JAVA_HOME>/lib/security/java.security, where <JAVA_HOME> refers to the directory where the JDK was installed.

The default CertStore type can be used by applications that do not want to use a hard-coded type when calling one of thegetInstance methods, and want to provide a default CertStore type in case a user does not specify its own.

The default CertStore type can be changed by setting the value of the "certstore.type" security property (in the Java security properties file) to the desired type.

Returns:

the default CertStore type as specified in the Java security properties file, or the string "LDAP" if no such property exists.

Submit a bug or feature
For further API reference and developer documentation, see Java 2 SDK SE Developer Documentation. That documentation contains more detailed, developer-targeted descriptions, with conceptual overviews, definitions of terms, workarounds, and working code examples.