java.security.cert
Class CertificateFactory

java.lang.Object
  java.security.cert.CertificateFactory

public class CertificateFactory
extends Object

This class implements the CertificateFactory class interface used to generate certificates, certificate revocation lists (CRLs), and certificate paths objects from their encoded forms.

Since:

JDK 1.2

Status:

Fully compatible with JDK 1.4.

Constructor Summary

protected

CertificateFactory(CertificateFactorySpi certFacSpi, Provider provider, String type) Creates an instance of CertificateFactory.

Method Summary

Certificate	generateCertificate(InputStream inStream) Generates a Certificate from the encoded data read from an InputStream.
Collection	generateCertificates(InputStream inStream) Returns a collection of certificates that were read from the input stream.
CertPath	generateCertPath(InputStream inStream) Generate a CertPath and initialize it with data parsed from the input stream.
CertPath	generateCertPath(InputStream inStream, String encoding) Generate a CertPath and initialize it with data parsed from the input stream, using the specified encoding.
CertPath	generateCertPath(List certificates) Generate a CertPath and initialize it with the certificates in the List argument.
CRL	generateCRL(InputStream inStream) Generates a CRL based on the encoded data read from the InputStream.
Collection	generateCRLs(InputStream inStream) Generates CRLs based on the encoded data read from the InputStream.
Iterator	getCertPathEncodings() Returns an Iterator of CertPath encodings supported by this factory, with the default encoding first.
static CertificateFactory	getInstance(String type) Gets an instance of the CertificateFactory class representing the specified certificate factory.
static CertificateFactory	getInstance(String type, Provider provider) Get a certificate factory for the given certificate type from the given provider.
static CertificateFactory	getInstance(String type, String provider) Gets an instance of the CertificateFactory class representing the specified certificate factory from the specified provider.
Provider	getProvider() Gets the provider of this implementation.
String	getType() Returns the type of the certificate this factory creates.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

CertificateFactory

protected CertificateFactory(CertificateFactorySpi certFacSpi,
                             Provider provider,
                             String type)

Creates an instance of CertificateFactory.

Parameters:

certFacSpi - The underlying CertificateFactory engine.

provider - The provider of this implementation.

type - The type of Certificate this factory creates.

Method Detail

getInstance

public static final CertificateFactory getInstance(String type)
                                            throws CertificateException

Gets an instance of the CertificateFactory class representing the specified certificate factory. If the type is not found then, it throws CertificateException.

Parameters:

type - The type of certificate factory to create.

Returns:

a CertificateFactory repesenting the desired type

Throws:

CertificateException - If the type of certificate is not implemented by any installed provider.

getInstance

public static final CertificateFactory getInstance(String type,
                                                   String provider)
                                            throws CertificateException,
                                                   NoSuchProviderException

Gets an instance of the CertificateFactory class representing the specified certificate factory from the specified provider. If the type is not found then, it throws CertificateException. If the provider is not found, then it throws NoSuchProviderException.

Parameters:

type - The type of certificate factory to create.

provider - The name of the provider from which to get the implementation.

Returns:

A CertificateFactory for the desired type.

Throws:

CertificateException - If the type of certificate is not implemented by the named provider.

NoSuchProviderException - If the named provider is not installed.

getInstance

public static final CertificateFactory getInstance(String type,
                                                   Provider provider)
                                            throws CertificateException

Get a certificate factory for the given certificate type from the given provider.

Parameters:

type - The type of certificate factory to create.

provider - The provider from which to get the implementation.

Returns:

A CertificateFactory for the desired type.

Throws:

CertificateException - If the type of certificate is not implemented by the provider.

IllegalArgumentException - If the provider is null.

getProvider

public final Provider getProvider()

Gets the provider of this implementation.

Returns:

The provider of this implementation.

getType

public final String getType()

Returns the type of the certificate this factory creates.

Returns:

A string with the type of certificate

generateCertificate

public final Certificate generateCertificate(InputStream inStream)
                                      throws CertificateException

Generates a Certificate from the encoded data read from an InputStream.

The input stream must contain only one certificate.

If there exists a specialized certificate class for the certificate format handled by the certificate factory then the return Ceritificate should be a typecast of it. Ex: A X.509 CertificateFactory should return X509Certificate.

For X.509 certificates, the certificate in inStream must be DER encoded and supplied in binary or printable (Base64) encoding. If the certificate is in Base64 encoding, it must be bounded by -----BEGINCERTIFICATE-----, and -----END CERTIFICATE-----.

Parameters:

inStream - An input stream containing the certificate data.

Returns:

A certificate initialized from the decoded InputStream data.

Throws:

CertificateException - If an error occurs decoding the certificate.

generateCertificates

public final Collection generateCertificates(InputStream inStream)
                                      throws CertificateException

Returns a collection of certificates that were read from the input stream. It may be empty, have only one, or have multiple certificates. For a X.509 certificate factory, the stream may contain a single DER encoded certificate or a PKCS#7 certificate chain. This is a PKCS#7 SignedData object with the most significant field being certificates. If no CRLs are present, then an empty collection is returned.

Parameters:

inStream - An input stream containing the certificate data.

Returns:

A collection of certificates initialized from the decoded InputStream data.

Throws:

CertificateException - If an error occurs decoding the certificates.

generateCRL

public final CRL generateCRL(InputStream inStream)
                      throws CRLException

Generates a CRL based on the encoded data read from the InputStream.

The input stream must contain only one CRL.

If there exists a specialized CRL class for the CRL format handled by the certificate factory then the return CRL should be a typecast of it. Ex: A X.509 CertificateFactory should return X509CRL.

Parameters:

inStream - An input stream containing the CRL data.

Returns:

A CRL initialized from the decoded InputStream data.

Throws:

CRLException - If an error occurs decoding the CRL.

generateCRLs

public final Collection generateCRLs(InputStream inStream)
                              throws CRLException

Generates CRLs based on the encoded data read from the InputStream.

For a X.509 certificate factory, the stream may contain a single DER encoded CRL or a PKCS#7 CRL set. This is a PKCS#7 SignedData object with the most significant field being crls. If no CRLs are present, then an empty collection is returned.

Parameters:

inStream - an input stream containing the CRLs.

Returns:

a collection of CRLs initialized from the decoded InputStream data.

Throws:

CRLException - If an error occurs decoding the CRLs.

generateCertPath

public final CertPath generateCertPath(InputStream inStream)
                                throws CertificateException

Generate a CertPath and initialize it with data parsed from the input stream. The default encoding of this factory is used.

Parameters:

inStream - The InputStream containing the CertPath data.

Returns:

A CertPath initialized from the input stream data.

Throws:

CertificateException - If an error occurs decoding the CertPath.

generateCertPath

public final CertPath generateCertPath(InputStream inStream,
                                       String encoding)
                                throws CertificateException

Generate a CertPath and initialize it with data parsed from the input stream, using the specified encoding.

Parameters:

inStream - The InputStream containing the CertPath data.

encoding - The encoding of the InputStream data.

Returns:

A CertPath initialized from the input stream data.

Throws:

CertificateException - If an error occurs decoding the CertPath.

generateCertPath

public final CertPath generateCertPath(List certificates)
                                throws CertificateException

Generate a CertPath and initialize it with the certificates in the List argument.

Parameters:

certificates - The list of certificates with which to create the CertPath.

Returns:

A CertPath initialized from the certificates.

Throws:

CertificateException - If an error occurs generating the CertPath.

getCertPathEncodings

public final Iterator getCertPathEncodings()

Returns an Iterator of CertPath encodings supported by this factory, with the default encoding first. The returned Iterator cannot be modified.

Returns:

The Iterator of supported encodings.