public class CertStore
extends Object

A class for retrieving Certificates and CRLs from a repository.

This class uses a provider-based architecture. To create a CertStore, call one of the static getInstance methods, passing in the type of CertStore desired, any applicable initialization parameters and optionally the name of the provider desired.

Once the CertStore has been created, it can be used to retrieve Certificates and CRLs by calling its getCertificates and getCRLs methods.

Unlike a KeyStore, which provides access to a cache of private keys and trusted certificates, a CertStore is designed to provide access to a potentially vast repository of untrusted certificates and CRLs. For example, an LDAP implementation of CertStore provides access to certificates and CRLs stored in one or more directories using the LDAP protocol and the schema as defined in the RFC service attribute.

Every implementation of the Java platform is required to support the following standard CertStore type:

• Collection

This type is described in the CertStore section of the Java Cryptography Architecture Standard Algorithm Name Documentation. Consult the release documentation for your implementation to see if any other types are supported.

Concurrent Access

All public methods of CertStore objects must be thread-safe. That is, multiple threads may concurrently invoke these methods on a single CertStore object (or more than one) with no ill effects. This allows a CertPathBuilder to search for a CRL while simultaneously searching for further certificates, for instance.

The static methods of this class are also guaranteed to be thread-safe. Multiple threads may concurrently invoke the static methods defined in this class with no ill effects.

protected CertStore(CertStoreSpi storeSpi,
                    Provider provider,
                    String type,
                    CertStoreParameters params)

public final Collection<? extends Certificate> getCertificates(CertSelector selector)
                                                        throws CertStoreException

Returns a Collection of Certificates that match the specified selector. If no Certificates match the selector, an empty Collection will be returned.

For some CertStore types, the resulting Collection may not contain all of the Certificates that match the selector. For instance, an LDAP CertStore may not search all entries in the directory. Instead, it may just search entries that are likely to contain the Certificates it is looking for.

Some CertStore implementations (especially LDAP CertStores) may throw a CertStoreException unless a non-null CertSelector is provided that includes specific criteria that can be used to find the certificates. Issuer and/or subject names are especially useful criteria.

public final Collection<? extends CRL> getCRLs(CRLSelector selector)
                                        throws CertStoreException

Returns a Collection of CRLs that match the specified selector. If no CRLs match the selector, an empty Collection will be returned.

For some CertStore types, the resulting Collection may not contain all of the CRLs that match the selector. For instance, an LDAP CertStore may not search all entries in the directory. Instead, it may just search entries that are likely to contain the CRLs it is looking for.

Some CertStore implementations (especially LDAP CertStores) may throw a CertStoreException unless a non-null CRLSelector is provided that includes specific criteria that can be used to find the CRLs. Issuer names and/or the certificate to be checked are especially useful.

public static CertStore getInstance(String type,
                                    CertStoreParameters params)
                             throws InvalidAlgorithmParameterException,
                                    NoSuchAlgorithmException

Returns a CertStore object that implements the specified CertStore type and is initialized with the specified parameters.

This method traverses the list of registered security Providers, starting with the most preferred Provider. A new CertStore object encapsulating the CertStoreSpi implementation from the first Provider that supports the specified type is returned.

Note that the list of registered providers may be retrieved via the Security.getProviders() method.

The CertStore that is returned is initialized with the specified CertStoreParameters. The type of parameters needed may vary between different types of CertStores. Note that the specified CertStoreParameters object is cloned.

public static CertStore getInstance(String type,
                                    CertStoreParameters params,
                                    String provider)
                             throws InvalidAlgorithmParameterException,
                                    NoSuchAlgorithmException,
                                    NoSuchProviderException

Returns a CertStore object that implements the specified CertStore type.

A new CertStore object encapsulating the CertStoreSpi implementation from the specified provider is returned. The specified provider must be registered in the security provider list.

Note that the list of registered providers may be retrieved via the Security.getProviders() method.

The CertStore that is returned is initialized with the specified CertStoreParameters. The type of parameters needed may vary between different types of CertStores. Note that the specified CertStoreParameters object is cloned.

public static CertStore getInstance(String type,
                                    CertStoreParameters params,
                                    Provider provider)
                             throws NoSuchAlgorithmException,
                                    InvalidAlgorithmParameterException

Returns a CertStore object that implements the specified CertStore type.

A new CertStore object encapsulating the CertStoreSpi implementation from the specified Provider object is returned. Note that the specified Provider object does not have to be registered in the provider list.

The CertStore that is returned is initialized with the specified CertStoreParameters. The type of parameters needed may vary between different types of CertStores. Note that the specified CertStoreParameters object is cloned.

public final CertStoreParameters getCertStoreParameters()

public final String getType()

public final Provider getProvider()

public static final String getDefaultType()

Returns the default CertStore type as specified by the certstore.type security property, or the string "LDAP" if no such property exists.

The default CertStore 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 CertStore type in case a user does not specify its own.

The default CertStore type can be changed by setting the value of the certstore.type security property to the desired type.