The Key interface is the top-level interface for all keys. It defines the functionality shared by all key objects. All keys have three characteristics:
This is the key algorithm for that key. The key algorithm is usually
an encryption or asymmetric operation algorithm (such as DSA or
RSA), which will work with those algorithms and with related
algorithms (such as MD5 with RSA, SHA-1 with RSA, Raw DSA, etc.)
The name of the algorithm of a key is obtained using the
getAlgorithm
method.
This is an external encoded form for the key used when a standard
representation of the key is needed outside the Java Virtual Machine,
as when transmitting the key to some other party. The key
is encoded according to a standard format (such as
X.509 SubjectPublicKeyInfo
or PKCS#8), and
is returned using the getEncoded
method.
Note: The syntax of the ASN.1 type SubjectPublicKeyInfo
is defined as follows:
SubjectPublicKeyInfo ::= SEQUENCE { algorithm AlgorithmIdentifier, subjectPublicKey BIT STRING } AlgorithmIdentifier ::= SEQUENCE { algorithm OBJECT IDENTIFIER, parameters ANY DEFINED BY algorithm OPTIONAL }For more information, see RFC 5280: Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Certificate and CRL Profile.
This is the name of the format of the encoded key. It is returned
by the getFormat
method.
KeyFactory
).
A Key should use KeyRep as its serialized representation. Note that a serialized Key may contain sensitive information which should not be exposed in untrusted environments. See the Security Appendix of the Serialization Specification for more information.
extends
PublicKey, PrivateKey, KeyPair, KeyPairGenerator, KeyFactory, KeyRep, java.security.spec.KeySpec, Identity, Signer