Module java.base
Package java.security.cert

Class Certificate

java.lang.Object
java.security.cert.Certificate
All Implemented Interfaces:
Serializable
Direct Known Subclasses:
X509Certificate
public abstract class Certificate extends Object implements Serializable

Abstract class for managing a variety of identity certificates. An identity certificate is a binding of a principal to a public key which is vouched for by another principal. (A principal represents an entity such as an individual user, a group, or a corporation.)

This class is an abstraction for certificates that have different formats but important common uses. For example, different types of certificates, such as X.509 and PGP, share general certificate functionality (like encoding and verifying) and some types of information (like a public key).

X.509, PGP, and SDSI certificates can all be implemented by subclassing the Certificate class, even though they contain different sets of information, and they store and retrieve the information in different ways.

Since:
1.2
See Also:

  • Nested Class Summary

    Nested Classes
    Modifier and Type
    Class
    Description
    protected static class 
    Certificate.CertificateRep
    Alternate Certificate class for serialization.

  • Constructor Summary

    Constructors
    Modifier
    Constructor
    Description
    protected
    Certificate(String type)
    Creates a certificate of the specified type.

  • Method Summary

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    boolean
    equals(Object other)
    Compares this certificate for equality with the specified object.
    abstract byte[]
    getEncoded()
    Returns the encoded form of this certificate.
    abstract PublicKey
    getPublicKey()
    Gets the public key from this certificate.
    final String
    getType()
    Returns the type of this certificate.
    int
    hashCode()
    Returns a hashcode value for this certificate from its encoded form.
    abstract String
    toString()
    Returns a string representation of this certificate.
    abstract void
    verify(PublicKey key)
    Verifies that this certificate was signed using the private key that corresponds to the specified public key.
    abstract void
    verify(PublicKey key, String sigProvider)
    Verifies that this certificate was signed using the private key that corresponds to the specified public key.
    void
    verify(PublicKey key, Provider sigProvider)
    Verifies that this certificate was signed using the private key that corresponds to the specified public key.
    protected Object
    writeReplace()
    Replace the Certificate to be serialized.

    Methods declared in class java.lang.Object

    clone, finalize, getClass, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait