java.security.cert
Class CertPathBuilder

java.lang.Object
  java.security.cert.CertPathBuilder

public class CertPathBuilder
extends Object

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

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

Once a CertPathBuilder object has been created, certification paths can be constructed by calling the build method and passing it an algorithm-specific set of parameters. If successful, the result (including the CertPath that was built) is returned in an object that implements the CertPathBuilderResult 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 CertPathBuilder instance concurrently should synchronize amongst themselves and provide the necessary locking. Multiple threads each manipulating a different CertPathBuilder instance need not synchronize.

Since:

1.4

See Also:

CertPath

Constructor Summary

protected

CertPathBuilder(CertPathBuilderSpi builderSpi, Provider provider, String algorithm) Creates a CertPathBuilder object of the given algorithm, and encapsulates the given provider implementation (SPI object) in it.

Method Summary

CertPathBuilderResult	build(CertPathParameters params) Attempts to build a certification path using the specified algorithm parameter set.
String	getAlgorithm() Returns the name of the algorithm of this CertPathBuilder.
static String	getDefaultType() Returns the default CertPathBuilder type as specified in the Java security properties file, or the string "PKIX" if no such property exists.
static CertPathBuilder	getInstance(String algorithm) Returns a CertPathBuilder object that implements the specified algorithm.
static CertPathBuilder	getInstance(String algorithm, Provider provider) Returns a CertPathBuilder object that implements the specified algorithm, as supplied by the specified provider.
static CertPathBuilder	getInstance(String algorithm, String provider) Returns a CertPathBuilder object that implements the specified algorithm, as supplied by the specified provider.
Provider	getProvider() Returns the provider of this CertPathBuilder.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

CertPathBuilder

protected CertPathBuilder(CertPathBuilderSpi builderSpi,
                          Provider provider,
                          String algorithm)

Creates a CertPathBuilder object of the given algorithm, and encapsulates the given provider implementation (SPI object) in it.

Parameters:

builderSpi - the provider implementation

provider - the provider

algorithm - the algorithm name

Method Detail

getInstance

public static CertPathBuilder getInstance(String algorithm)
                                   throws NoSuchAlgorithmException

Returns a CertPathBuilder object that implements the specified algorithm.

If the default provider package provides an implementation of the specified CertPathBuilder algorithm, an instance of CertPathBuilder 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 CertPathBuilder algorithm

Returns:

a CertPathBuilder 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 CertPathBuilder getInstance(String algorithm,
                                          String provider)
                                   throws NoSuchAlgorithmException,
                                          NoSuchProviderException

Returns a CertPathBuilder object that implements the specified algorithm, as supplied by the specified provider.

Parameters:

algorithm - the name of the requested CertPathBuilder algorithm

provider - the name of the provider

Returns:

a CertPathBuilder 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 CertPathBuilder getInstance(String algorithm,
                                          Provider provider)
                                   throws NoSuchAlgorithmException

Returns a CertPathBuilder 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 CertPathBuilder algorithm

provider - the provider

Returns:

a CertPathBuilder 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 CertPathBuilder.

Returns:

the provider of this CertPathBuilder

getAlgorithm

public final String getAlgorithm()

Returns the name of the algorithm of this CertPathBuilder.

Returns:

the name of the algorithm of this CertPathBuilder

build

public final CertPathBuilderResult build(CertPathParameters params)
                                  throws CertPathBuilderException,
                                         InvalidAlgorithmParameterException

Attempts to build a certification path using the specified algorithm parameter set.

Parameters:

params - the algorithm parameters

Returns:

the result of the build algorithm

Throws:

CertPathBuilderException - if the builder is unable to construct a certification path that satisfies the specified parameters

InvalidAlgorithmParameterException - if the specified parameters are inappropriate for this CertPathBuilder

getDefaultType

public static final String getDefaultType()

Returns the default CertPathBuilder 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 JDK was installed.

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

Returns:

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