package gnu.crypto.key;
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// $Id: IKeyPairCodec.java,v 1.2 2005/10/06 04:24:16 rsdio Exp $
//
// Copyright (C) 2001, 2002, Free Software Foundation, Inc.
//
// This file is part of GNU Crypto.
//
// GNU Crypto is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
// the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
// any later version.
//
// GNU Crypto is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
// WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
// General Public License for more details.
//
// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
// along with this program; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the
//
// Free Software Foundation Inc.,
// 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
// Boston, MA 02110-1301
// USA
//
// Linking this library statically or dynamically with other modules is
// making a combined work based on this library. Thus, the terms and
// conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole
// combination.
//
// As a special exception, the copyright holders of this library give
// you permission to link this library with independent modules to
// produce an executable, regardless of the license terms of these
// independent modules, and to copy and distribute the resulting
// executable under terms of your choice, provided that you also meet,
// for each linked independent module, the terms and conditions of the
// license of that module. An independent module is a module which is
// not derived from or based on this library. If you modify this
// library, you may extend this exception to your version of the
// library, but you are not obligated to do so. If you do not wish to
// do so, delete this exception statement from your version.
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
import gnu.crypto.Registry;
import java.security.PrivateKey;
import java.security.PublicKey;
/**
* <p>The visible methods of an object that knows how to encode and decode
* cryptographic asymmetric keypairs. Codecs are useful for (a) externalising
* public and private keys for storage and on-the-wire transmission, as well as
* (b) re-creating their internal Java representation from external sources.</p>
*
* @version $Revision: 1.2 $
*/
public interface IKeyPairCodec {
// Constants
// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
/** Constant identifying the <i>Raw</i> encoding format. */
int RAW_FORMAT = Registry.RAW_ENCODING_ID;
// Method(s)
// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
/**
* <p>Returns the unique identifier (within this library) of the format used
* to externalise public and private keys.</p>
*
* @return the identifier of the format, the object supports.
*/
int getFormatID();
/**
* <p>Encodes an instance of a public key for storage or transmission purposes.</p>
*
* @param key the non-null key to encode.
* @return a byte sequence representing the encoding of the designated key
* according to the format supported by this codec.
* @exception IllegalArgumentException if the designated key is not supported
* by this codec.
*/
byte[] encodePublicKey(PublicKey key);
/**
* <p>Encodes an instance of a private key for storage or transmission purposes.</p>
*
* @param key the non-null key to encode.
* @return a byte sequence representing the encoding of the designated key
* according to the format supported by this codec.
* @exception IllegalArgumentException if the designated key is not supported
* by this codec.
*/
byte[] encodePrivateKey(PrivateKey key);
/**
* <p>Decodes an instance of an external public key into its native Java
* representation.</p>
*
* @param input the source of the externalised key to decode.
* @return a concrete instance of a public key, reconstructed from the
* designated input.
* @exception IllegalArgumentException if the designated input does not
* contain a known representation of a public key for the format supported by
* the concrete codec.
*/
PublicKey decodePublicKey(byte[] input);
/**
* <p>Decodes an instance of an external private key into its native Java
* representation.</p>
*
* @param input the source of the externalised key to decode.
* @return a concrete instance of a private key, reconstructed from the
* designated input.
* @exception IllegalArgumentException if the designated input does not
* contain a known representation of a private key for the format supported
* by the concrete codec.
*/
PrivateKey decodePrivateKey(byte[] input);
}