Java™ Platform
Standard Ed. 6

java.security
Class Provider

java.lang.Object
  extended by java.util.Dictionary<K,V>
      extended by java.util.Hashtable<Object,Object>
          extended by java.util.Properties
              extended by java.security.Provider
All Implemented Interfaces:
Serializable, Cloneable, Map<Object,Object>
Direct Known Subclasses:
AuthProvider

public abstract class Provider
extends Properties

This class represents a "provider" for the Java Security API, where a provider implements some or all parts of Java Security. Services that a provider may implement include:

Each provider has a name and a version number, and is configured in each runtime it is installed in.

See The Provider Class in the "Java Cryptography Architecture API Specification & Reference" for information about how a particular type of provider, the cryptographic service provider, works and is installed. However, please note that a provider can be used to implement any security service in Java that uses a pluggable architecture with a choice of implementations that fit underneath.

Some provider implementations may encounter unrecoverable internal errors during their operation, for example a failure to communicate with a security token. A ProviderException should be used to indicate such errors.

The service type Provider is reserved for use by the security framework. Services of this type cannot be added, removed, or modified by applications. The following attributes are automatically placed in each Provider object:

NameValue
Provider.id name String.valueOf(provider.getName())
Provider.id version String.valueOf(provider.getVersion())
Provider.id info String.valueOf(provider.getInfo())
Provider.id className provider.getClass().getName()

See Also:
Serialized Form

Nested Class Summary
static class Provider.Service
          The description of a security service.
 
Field Summary
 
Fields inherited from class java.util.Properties
defaults
 
Constructor Summary
protected Provider(String name, double version, String info)
          Constructs a provider with the specified name, version number, and information.
 
Method Summary
 void clear()
          Clears this provider so that it no longer contains the properties used to look up facilities implemented by the provider.
 Enumeration<Object> elements()
          Returns an enumeration of the values in this hashtable.
 Set<Map.Entry<Object,Object>> entrySet()
          Returns an unmodifiable Set view of the property entries contained in this Provider.
 Object get(Object key)
          Returns the value to which the specified key is mapped, or null if this map contains no mapping for the key.
 String getInfo()
          Returns a human-readable description of the provider and its services.
 String getName()
          Returns the name of this provider.
 String getProperty(String key)
          Searches for the property with the specified key in this property list.
 Provider.Service getService(String type, String algorithm)
          Get the service describing this Provider's implementation of the specified type of this algorithm or alias.
 Set<Provider.Service> getServices()
          Get an unmodifiable Set of all services supported by this Provider.
 double getVersion()
          Returns the version number for this provider.
 Enumeration<Object> keys()
          Returns an enumeration of the keys in this hashtable.
 Set<Object> keySet()
          Returns an unmodifiable Set view of the property keys contained in this provider.
 void load(InputStream inStream)
          Reads a property list (key and element pairs) from the input stream.
 Object put(Object key, Object value)
          Sets the key property to have the specified value.
 void putAll(Map<?,?> t)
          Copies all of the mappings from the specified Map to this provider.
protected  void putService(Provider.Service s)
          Add a service.
 Object remove(Object key)
          Removes the key property (and its corresponding value).
protected  void removeService(Provider.Service s)
          Remove a service previously added using putService().
 String toString()
          Returns a string with the name and the version number of this provider.
 Collection<Object> values()
          Returns an unmodifiable Collection view of the property values contained in this provider.
 
Methods inherited from class java.util.Properties
getProperty, list, list, load, loadFromXML, propertyNames, save, setProperty, store, store, storeToXML, storeToXML, stringPropertyNames
 
Methods inherited from class java.util.Hashtable
clone, contains, containsKey, containsValue, equals, hashCode, isEmpty, rehash, size
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
finalize, getClass, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait
 

Constructor Detail

Provider

protected Provider(String name,
                   double version,
                   String info)
Constructs a provider with the specified name, version number, and information.

Parameters:
name - the provider name.
version - the provider version number.
info - a description of the provider and its services.
Method Detail

getName

public String getName()
Returns the name of this provider.

Returns:
the name of this provider.

getVersion

public double getVersion()
Returns the version number for this provider.

Returns:
the version number for this provider.

getInfo

public String getInfo()
Returns a human-readable description of the provider and its services. This may return an HTML page, with relevant links.

Returns:
a description of the provider and its services.

toString

public String toString()
Returns a string with the name and the version number of this provider.

Overrides:
toString in class Hashtable<Object,Object>
Returns:
the string with the name and the version number for this provider.

clear

public void clear()
Clears this provider so that it no longer contains the properties used to look up facilities implemented by the provider.

First, if there is a security manager, its checkSecurityAccess method is called with the string "clearProviderProperties."+name (where name is the provider name) to see if it's ok to clear this provider. If the default implementation of checkSecurityAccess is used (that is, that method is not overriden), then this results in a call to the security manager's checkPermission method with a SecurityPermission("clearProviderProperties."+name) permission.

Specified by:
clear in interface Map<Object,Object>
Overrides:
clear in class Hashtable<Object,Object>
Throws:
SecurityException - if a security manager exists and its SecurityManager.checkSecurityAccess(java.lang.String) method denies access to clear this provider
Since:
1.2

load

public void load(InputStream inStream)
          throws IOException
Reads a property list (key and element pairs) from the input stream.

Overrides:
load in class Properties
Parameters:
inStream - the input stream.
Throws:
IOException - if an error occurred when reading from the input stream.
See Also:
Properties.load(java.io.Reader)

putAll

public void putAll(Map<?,?> t)
Copies all of the mappings from the specified Map to this provider. These mappings will replace any properties that this provider had for any of the keys currently in the specified Map.

Specified by:
putAll in interface Map<Object,Object>
Overrides:
putAll in class Hashtable<Object,Object>
Parameters:
t - mappings to be stored in this map
Since:
1.2

entrySet

public Set<Map.Entry<Object,Object>> entrySet()
Returns an unmodifiable Set view of the property entries contained in this Provider.

Specified by:
entrySet in interface Map<Object,Object>
Overrides:
entrySet in class Hashtable<Object,Object>
Returns:
a set view of the mappings contained in this map
Since:
1.2
See Also:
Map.Entry

keySet

public Set<Object> keySet()
Returns an unmodifiable Set view of the property keys contained in this provider.

Specified by:
keySet in interface Map<Object,Object>
Overrides:
keySet in class Hashtable<Object,Object>
Returns:
a set view of the keys contained in this map
Since:
1.2

values

public Collection<Object> values()
Returns an unmodifiable Collection view of the property values contained in this provider.

Specified by:
values in interface Map<Object,Object>
Overrides:
values in class Hashtable<Object,Object>
Returns:
a collection view of the values contained in this map
Since:
1.2

put

public Object put(Object key,
                  Object value)
Sets the key property to have the specified value.

First, if there is a security manager, its checkSecurityAccess method is called with the string "putProviderProperty."+name, where name is the provider name, to see if it's ok to set this provider's property values. If the default implementation of checkSecurityAccess is used (that is, that method is not overriden), then this results in a call to the security manager's checkPermission method with a SecurityPermission("putProviderProperty."+name) permission.

Specified by:
put in interface Map<Object,Object>
Overrides:
put in class Hashtable<Object,Object>
Parameters:
key - the property key.
value - the property value.
Returns:
the previous value of the specified property (key), or null if it did not have one.
Throws:
SecurityException - if a security manager exists and its SecurityManager.checkSecurityAccess(java.lang.String) method denies access to set property values.
Since:
1.2
See Also:
Object.equals(Object), Hashtable.get(Object)

remove

public Object remove(Object key)
Removes the key property (and its corresponding value).

First, if there is a security manager, its checkSecurityAccess method is called with the string "removeProviderProperty."+name, where name is the provider name, to see if it's ok to remove this provider's properties. If the default implementation of checkSecurityAccess is used (that is, that method is not overriden), then this results in a call to the security manager's checkPermission method with a SecurityPermission("removeProviderProperty."+name) permission.

Specified by:
remove in interface Map<Object,Object>
Overrides:
remove in class Hashtable<Object,Object>
Parameters:
key - the key for the property to be removed.
Returns:
the value to which the key had been mapped, or null if the key did not have a mapping.
Throws:
SecurityException - if a security manager exists and its SecurityManager.checkSecurityAccess(java.lang.String) method denies access to remove this provider's properties.
Since:
1.2

get

public Object get(Object key)
Description copied from class: Hashtable
Returns the value to which the specified key is mapped, or null if this map contains no mapping for the key.

More formally, if this map contains a mapping from a key k to a value v such that (key.equals(k)), then this method returns v; otherwise it returns null. (There can be at most one such mapping.)

Specified by:
get in interface Map<Object,Object>
Overrides:
get in class Hashtable<Object,Object>
Parameters:
key - the key whose associated value is to be returned
Returns:
the value to which the specified key is mapped, or null if this map contains no mapping for the key
See Also:
Hashtable.put(Object, Object)

keys

public Enumeration<Object> keys()
Description copied from class: Hashtable
Returns an enumeration of the keys in this hashtable.

Overrides:
keys in class Hashtable<Object,Object>
Returns:
an enumeration of the keys in this hashtable.
See Also:
Enumeration, Hashtable.elements(), Hashtable.keySet(), Map

elements

public Enumeration<Object> elements()
Description copied from class: Hashtable
Returns an enumeration of the values in this hashtable. Use the Enumeration methods on the returned object to fetch the elements sequentially.

Overrides:
elements in class Hashtable<Object,Object>
Returns:
an enumeration of the values in this hashtable.
See Also:
Enumeration, Hashtable.keys(), Hashtable.values(), Map

getProperty

public String getProperty(String key)
Description copied from class: Properties
Searches for the property with the specified key in this property list. If the key is not found in this property list, the default property list, and its defaults, recursively, are then checked. The method returns null if the property is not found.

Overrides:
getProperty in class Properties
Parameters:
key - the property key.
Returns:
the value in this property list with the specified key value.
See Also:
Properties.setProperty(java.lang.String, java.lang.String), Properties.defaults

getService

public Provider.Service getService(String type,
                                   String algorithm)
Get the service describing this Provider's implementation of the specified type of this algorithm or alias. If no such implementation exists, this method returns null. If there are two matching services, one added to this provider using putService() and one added via put(), the service added via putService() is returned.

Parameters:
type - the type of service requested (for example, MessageDigest)
algorithm - the case insensitive algorithm name (or alternate alias) of the service requested (for example, SHA-1)
Returns:
the service describing this Provider's matching service or null if no such service exists
Throws:
NullPointerException - if type or algorithm is null
Since:
1.5

getServices

public Set<Provider.Service> getServices()
Get an unmodifiable Set of all services supported by this Provider.

Returns:
an unmodifiable Set of all services supported by this Provider
Since:
1.5

putService

protected void putService(Provider.Service s)
Add a service. If a service of the same type with the same algorithm name exists and it was added using putService(), it is replaced by the new service. This method also places information about this service in the provider's Hashtable values in the format described in the Java Cryptography Architecture API Specification & Reference .

Also, if there is a security manager, its checkSecurityAccess method is called with the string "putProviderProperty."+name, where name is the provider name, to see if it's ok to set this provider's property values. If the default implementation of checkSecurityAccess is used (that is, that method is not overriden), then this results in a call to the security manager's checkPermission method with a SecurityPermission("putProviderProperty."+name) permission.

Parameters:
s - the Service to add
Throws:
SecurityException - if a security manager exists and its SecurityManager.checkSecurityAccess(java.lang.String) method denies access to set property values.
NullPointerException - if s is null
Since:
1.5

removeService

protected void removeService(Provider.Service s)
Remove a service previously added using putService(). The specified service is removed from this provider. It will no longer be returned by getService() and its information will be removed from this provider's Hashtable.

Also, if there is a security manager, its checkSecurityAccess method is called with the string "removeProviderProperty."+name, where name is the provider name, to see if it's ok to remove this provider's properties. If the default implementation of checkSecurityAccess is used (that is, that method is not overriden), then this results in a call to the security manager's checkPermission method with a SecurityPermission("removeProviderProperty."+name) permission.

Parameters:
s - the Service to be removed
Throws:
SecurityException - if a security manager exists and its SecurityManager.checkSecurityAccess(java.lang.String) method denies access to remove this provider's properties.
NullPointerException - if s is null
Since:
1.5

Java™ Platform
Standard Ed. 6

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

Copyright 2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Use is subject to license terms. Also see the documentation redistribution policy.