JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.4.1

java.security.cert
Class CertPathValidator

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--java.security.cert.CertPathValidator

public class CertPathValidator
extends Object

A class for validating certification paths (also known as certificate chains).

This class uses a provider-based architecture, as described in the Java Cryptography Architecture. To create a CertPathValidator, call one of the static getInstance methods, passing in the algorithm name of the CertPathValidator desired and optionally the name of the provider desired.

Once a CertPathValidator object has been created, it can be used to validate certification paths by calling the validate method and passing it the CertPath to be validated and an algorithm-specific set of parameters. If successful, the result is returned in an object that implements the CertPathValidatorResult interface.

Concurrent Access

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

However, this is not true for the non-static methods defined by this class. Unless otherwise documented by a specific provider, threads that need to access a single CertPathValidator instance concurrently should synchronize amongst themselves and provide the necessary locking. Multiple threads each manipulating a different CertPathValidator instance need not synchronize.

Since:
1.4
See Also:
CertPath

Constructor Summary
protected CertPathValidator(CertPathValidatorSpi validatorSpi, Provider provider, String algorithm)
          Creates a CertPathValidator object of the given algorithm, and encapsulates the given provider implementation (SPI object) in it.
 
Method Summary
 String getAlgorithm()
          Returns the algorithm name of this CertPathValidator.
static String getDefaultType()
          Returns the default CertPathValidator type as specified in the Java security properties file, or the string "PKIX" if no such property exists.
static CertPathValidator getInstance(String algorithm)
          Returns a CertPathValidator object that implements the specified algorithm.
static CertPathValidator getInstance(String algorithm, Provider provider)
          Returns a CertPathValidator object that implements the specified algorithm, as supplied by the specified provider.
static CertPathValidator getInstance(String algorithm, String provider)
          Returns a CertPathValidator object that implements the specified algorithm, as supplied by the specified provider.
 Provider getProvider()
          Returns the Provider of this CertPathValidator.
 CertPathValidatorResult validate(CertPath certPath, CertPathParameters params)
          Validates the specified certification path using the specified algorithm parameter set.
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait
 

Constructor Detail

CertPathValidator

protected CertPathValidator(CertPathValidatorSpi validatorSpi,
                            Provider provider,
                            String algorithm)
Creates a CertPathValidator object of the given algorithm, and encapsulates the given provider implementation (SPI object) in it.

Parameters:
validatorSpi - the provider implementation
provider - the provider
algorithm - the algorithm name
Method Detail

getInstance

public static CertPathValidator getInstance(String algorithm)
                                     throws NoSuchAlgorithmException
Returns a CertPathValidator object that implements the specified algorithm.

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

Parameters:
algorithm - the name of the requested CertPathValidator algorithm
Returns:
a CertPathValidator object that implements the specified algorithm
Throws:
NoSuchAlgorithmException - if the requested algorithm is not available in the default provider package or any of the other provider packages that were searched

getInstance

public static CertPathValidator getInstance(String algorithm,
                                            String provider)
                                     throws NoSuchAlgorithmException,
                                            NoSuchProviderException
Returns a CertPathValidator object that implements the specified algorithm, as supplied by the specified provider.

Parameters:
algorithm - the name of the requested CertPathValidator algorithm
provider - the name of the provider
Returns:
a CertPathValidator object that implements the specified algorithm, as supplied by the specified provider
Throws:
NoSuchAlgorithmException - if the requested algorithm is not available from the specified provider
NoSuchProviderException - if the provider has not been configured
IllegalArgumentException - if the provider is null

getInstance

public static CertPathValidator getInstance(String algorithm,
                                            Provider provider)
                                     throws NoSuchAlgorithmException
Returns a CertPathValidator object that implements the specified algorithm, as supplied by the specified provider. Note: the provider doesn't have to be registered.

Parameters:
algorithm - the name of the requested CertPathValidator algorithm
provider - the provider
Returns:
a CertPathValidator object that implements the specified algorithm, as supplied by the specified provider
Throws:
NoSuchAlgorithmException - if the requested algorithm is not available from the specified provider
IllegalArgumentException - if the provider is null

getProvider

public final Provider getProvider()
Returns the Provider of this CertPathValidator.

Returns:
the Provider of this CertPathValidator

getAlgorithm

public final String getAlgorithm()
Returns the algorithm name of this CertPathValidator.

Returns:
the algorithm name of this CertPathValidator

validate

public final CertPathValidatorResult validate(CertPath certPath,
                                              CertPathParameters params)
                                       throws CertPathValidatorException,
                                              InvalidAlgorithmParameterException
Validates the specified certification path using the specified algorithm parameter set.

The CertPath specified must be of a type that is supported by the validation algorithm, otherwise an InvalidAlgorithmParameterException will be thrown. For example, a CertPathValidator that implements the PKIX algorithm validates CertPath objects of type X.509.

Parameters:
certPath - the CertPath to be validated
params - the algorithm parameters
Returns:
the result of the validation algorithm
Throws:
CertPathValidatorException - if the CertPath does not validate
InvalidAlgorithmParameterException - if the specified parameters or the type of the specified CertPath are inappropriate for this CertPathValidator

getDefaultType

public static final String getDefaultType()
Returns the default CertPathValidator type as specified in the Java security properties file, or the string "PKIX" 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 SDK was installed.

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

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

Returns:
the default CertPathValidator type as specified in the Java security properties file, or the string "PKIX" if no such property exists.

JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.4.1

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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.

Copyright 2002 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Use is subject to license terms.