org.mortbay.util

Class Credential

Known Direct Subclasses:
Credential.Crypt, Credential.MD5, Password

public abstract class Credential
extends java.lang.Object

Credentials. The Credential class represents an abstract mechanism for checking authentication credentials. A credential instance either represents a secret, or some data that could only be derived from knowing the secret.

Often a Credential is related to a Password via a one way algorithm, so while a Password itself is a Credential, a UnixCrypt or MD5 digest of a a password is only a credential that can be checked against the password.

This class includes an implementation for unix Crypt an MD5 digest.

Version:
$Id: Credential.java,v 1.7 2005/08/13 00:01:28 gregwilkins Exp $
Author:
Greg Wilkins (gregw)
See Also:
Password

Nested Class Summary

static class
Credential.Crypt
Unix Crypt Credentials
static class
Credential.MD5
MD5 Credentials

Method Summary

abstract boolean
check(Object credentials)
Check a credential
static Credential
getCredential(String credential)
Get a credential from a String.

Method Details

check

public abstract boolean check(Object credentials)
Check a credential
Parameters:
credentials - The credential to check against. This may either be another Credential object, a Password object or a String which is interpreted by this credential.
Returns:
True if the credentials indicated that the shared secret is known to both this Credential and the passed credential.

getCredential

public static Credential getCredential(String credential)
Get a credential from a String. If the credential String starts with a known Credential type (eg "CRYPT:" or "MD5:" ) then a Credential of that type is returned. Else the credential is assumed to be a Password.
Parameters:
credential - String representation of the credential
Returns:
A Credential or Password instance.

Copyright © 2004 Mortbay Consulting Pty. Ltd. All Rights Reserved.