JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.4.1

javax.security.auth.x500
Class X500Principal

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--javax.security.auth.x500.X500Principal
All Implemented Interfaces:
Principal, Serializable

public final class X500Principal
extends Object
implements Principal, Serializable

This class represents an X.500 Principal. X500Principals are represented by distinguished names such as "CN=Duke, OU=JavaSoft, O=Sun Microsystems, C=US".

This class can be instantiated by using a string representation of the distinguished name, or by using the ASN.1 DER encoded byte representation of the distinguished name. The current specification for the string representation of a distinguished name is defined in RFC 2253. This class, however, accepts string formats from both RFC 2253 and RFC 1779, and also recognizes attribute type keywords whose OIDs (Object Identifiers) are defined in RFC 2459.

The string representation for this X500Principal can be obtained by calling the getName methods.

Note that the getSubjectX500Principal and getIssuerX500Principal methods of X509Certificate return X500Principals representing the issuer and subject fields of the certificate.

Since:
1.4
See Also:
X509Certificate, Serialized Form

Field Summary
static String CANONICAL
          Canonical String format of Distinguished Names.
static String RFC1779
          RFC 1779 String format of Distinguished Names.
static String RFC2253
          RFC 2253 String format of Distinguished Names.
 
Constructor Summary
X500Principal(byte[] name)
          Creates an X500Principal from a distinguished name in ASN.1 DER encoded form.
X500Principal(InputStream is)
          Creates an X500Principal from an InputStream containing the distinguished name in ASN.1 DER encoded form.
X500Principal(String name)
          Creates an X500Principal from a string representation of an X.500 distinguished name (ex: "CN=Duke, OU=JavaSoft, O=Sun Microsystems, C=US").
 
Method Summary
 boolean equals(Object o)
          Compares the specified Object with this X500Principal for equality.
 byte[] getEncoded()
          Returns the distinguished name in ASN.1 DER encoded form.
 String getName()
          Returns a string representation of the X.500 distinguished name using the format defined in RFC 2253.
 String getName(String format)
          Returns a string representation of the X.500 distinguished name using the specified format.
 int hashCode()
          Return a hash code for this X500Principal.
 String toString()
          Return a user-friendly string representation of this X500Principal.
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, finalize, getClass, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait
 

Field Detail

RFC1779

public static final String RFC1779
RFC 1779 String format of Distinguished Names.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

RFC2253

public static final String RFC2253
RFC 2253 String format of Distinguished Names.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

CANONICAL

public static final String CANONICAL
Canonical String format of Distinguished Names.

See Also:
Constant Field Values
Constructor Detail

X500Principal

public X500Principal(String name)
Creates an X500Principal from a string representation of an X.500 distinguished name (ex: "CN=Duke, OU=JavaSoft, O=Sun Microsystems, C=US"). The distinguished name must be specified using the grammar defined in RFC 1779 or RFC 2253 (either format is acceptable).

This constructor recognizes the attribute type keywords defined in RFC 1779 and RFC 2253 (and listed in getName(String format)), as well as the T, DNQ or DNQUALIFIER, SURNAME, GIVENNAME, INITIALS, GENERATION, EMAILADDRESS, and SERIALNUMBER keywords whose OIDs are defined in RFC 2459 and its successor. Any other attribute type must be specified as an OID.

Parameters:
name - an X.500 distinguished name in RFC 1779 or RFC 2253 format
Throws:
NullPointerException - if the name is null
IllegalArgumentException - if the name is improperly specified

X500Principal

public X500Principal(byte[] name)
Creates an X500Principal from a distinguished name in ASN.1 DER encoded form. The ASN.1 notation for this structure is as follows.

 Name ::= CHOICE {
   RDNSequence }

 RDNSequence ::= SEQUENCE OF RelativeDistinguishedName

 RelativeDistinguishedName ::=
   SET SIZE (1 .. MAX) OF AttributeTypeAndValue

 AttributeTypeAndValue ::= SEQUENCE {
   type     AttributeType,
   value    AttributeValue }

 AttributeType ::= OBJECT IDENTIFIER

 AttributeValue ::= ANY DEFINED BY AttributeType
 ....
 DirectoryString ::= CHOICE {
       teletexString           TeletexString (SIZE (1..MAX)),
       printableString         PrintableString (SIZE (1..MAX)),
       universalString         UniversalString (SIZE (1..MAX)),
       utf8String              UTF8String (SIZE (1.. MAX)),
       bmpString               BMPString (SIZE (1..MAX)) }
 

Parameters:
name - a byte array containing the distinguished name in ASN.1 DER encoded form
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - if an encoding error occurs (incorrect form for DN)

X500Principal

public X500Principal(InputStream is)
Creates an X500Principal from an InputStream containing the distinguished name in ASN.1 DER encoded form. The ASN.1 notation for this structure is supplied in the documentation for X500Principal(byte[] name).

The read position of the input stream is positioned to the next available byte after the encoded distinguished name.

Parameters:
is - an InputStream containing the distinguished name in ASN.1 DER encoded form
Throws:
NullPointerException - if the InputStream is null
IllegalArgumentException - if an encoding error occurs (incorrect form for DN)
Method Detail

getName

public String getName()
Returns a string representation of the X.500 distinguished name using the format defined in RFC 2253.

This method is equivalent to calling getName(X500Principal.RFC2253).

Specified by:
getName in interface Principal
Returns:
the distinguished name of this X500Principal

getName

public String getName(String format)
Returns a string representation of the X.500 distinguished name using the specified format. Valid values for the format are "RFC1779", "RFC2253", and "CANONICAL" (case insensitive).

If "RFC1779" is specified as the format, this method emits the attribute type keywords defined in RFC 1779 (CN, L, ST, O, OU, C, STREET). Any other attribute type is emitted as an OID.

If "RFC2253" is specified as the format, this method emits the attribute type keywords defined in RFC 2253 (CN, L, ST, O, OU, C, STREET, DC, UID). Any other attribute type is emitted as an OID. Under a strict reading, RFC 2253 only specifies a UTF-8 string representation. The String returned by this method is the Unicode string achieved by decoding this UTF-8 representation.

If "CANONICAL" is specified as the format, this method returns an RFC 2253 conformant string representation with the following additional canonicalizations:

  1. Leading zeros are removed from attribute types that are encoded as dotted decimal OIDs
  2. DirectoryString attribute values of type PrintableString and UTF8String are not output in hexadecimal format
  3. DirectoryString attribute values of types other than PrintableString and UTF8String are output in hexadecimal format
  4. Leading and trailing white space characters are removed from non-hexadecimal attribute values (unless the value consists entirely of white space characters)
  5. Internal substrings of one or more white space characters are converted to a single space in non-hexadecimal attribute values
  6. Relative Distinguished Names containing more than one Attribute Value Assertion (AVA) are output in the following order: an alphabetical ordering of AVAs containing standard keywords, followed by a numeric ordering of AVAs containing OID keywords.
  7. The only characters in attribute values that are escaped are those which section 2.4 of RFC 2253 states must be escaped (they are escaped using a preceding backslash character)
  8. The entire name is converted to upper case using String.toUpperCase(Locale.US)
  9. The entire name is converted to lower case using String.toLowerCase(Locale.US)
  10. The name is finally normalized using normalization form KD, as described in the Unicode Standard and UAX #15

Additional standard formats may be introduced in the future.

Parameters:
format - the format to use
Returns:
a string representation of this X500Principal using the specified format
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - if the specified format is invalid

getEncoded

public byte[] getEncoded()
Returns the distinguished name in ASN.1 DER encoded form. The ASN.1 notation for this structure is supplied in the documentation for X500Principal(byte[] name).

Note that the byte array returned is cloned to protect against subsequent modifications.

Returns:
a byte array containing the distinguished name in ASN.1 DER encoded form

toString

public String toString()
Return a user-friendly string representation of this X500Principal.

Specified by:
toString in interface Principal
Overrides:
toString in class Object
Returns:
a string representation of this X500Principal

equals

public boolean equals(Object o)
Compares the specified Object with this X500Principal for equality.

Specifically, this method returns true if the Object o is an X500Principal and if the respective canonical string representations (obtained via the getName(X500Principal.CANONICAL) method) of this object and o are equal.

This implementation is compliant with the requirements of RFC 2459.

Specified by:
equals in interface Principal
Overrides:
equals in class Object
Parameters:
o - Object to be compared for equality with this X500Principal
Returns:
true if the specified Object is equal to this X500Principal, false otherwise

hashCode

public int hashCode()
Return a hash code for this X500Principal.

The hash code is calculated via: getName(X500Principal.CANONICAL).hashCode()

Specified by:
hashCode in interface Principal
Overrides:
hashCode in class Object
Returns:
a hash code for this X500Principal

JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.4.1

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