Key

implements Serializable

java.security.Key

Known Indirect Subclasses

DHPrivateKey, DHPublicKey, DSAPrivateKey, DSAPublicKey, ECPrivateKey, ECPublicKey, PBEKey, PrivateKey, PublicKey, RSAMultiPrimePrivateCrtKey, RSAPrivateCrtKey, RSAPrivateKey, RSAPublicKey, SecretKey, SecretKeySpec

DHPrivateKey	The interface for a private key in the Diffie-Hellman key exchange protocol.
DHPublicKey	The interface for a public key in the Diffie-Hellman key exchange protocol.
DSAPrivateKey	The interface for a Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) private key.
DSAPublicKey	The interface for a Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) public key.
ECPrivateKey	The interface for an Elliptic Curve (EC) private key.
ECPublicKey	The interface for an Elliptic Curve (EC) public key.
PBEKey	The interface to a password-based-encryption key.
PrivateKey	`PrivateKey` is the common interface for private keys.
PublicKey	`PublicKey` is the common interface for public keys.
RSAMultiPrimePrivateCrtKey	The interface for a Multi-Prime RSA private key.
RSAPrivateCrtKey	The interface for a PKCS#1 RSA private key using CRT information values.
RSAPrivateKey	The interface for an PKCS#1 RSA private key.
RSAPublicKey	The interface for a PKCS#1 RSA public key.
SecretKey	A cryptographic secret (symmetric) key.
SecretKeySpec	A key specification for a `SecretKey` and also a secret key implementation that is provider-independent.

Class Overview

Key is the common interface for all keys.

See also:

Constants
long	serialVersionUID	The `serialVersionUID` to be compatible with JDK1.1.

Public Methods
abstract String	getAlgorithm() Returns the name of the algorithm of this key.
abstract byte[]	getEncoded() Returns the encoded form of this key, or `null` if encoding is not supported by this key.
abstract String	getFormat() Returns the name of the format used to encode this key, or `null` if it can not be encoded.

Added in API level 1

The serialVersionUID to be compatible with JDK1.1.

Constant Value: 6603384152749567654 (0x5ba3eee69414eea6)

Added in API level 1

Returns the name of the algorithm of this key. If the algorithm is unknown, null is returned.

Returns
`String`	the name of the algorithm of this key or `null` if the algorithm is unknown.

Added in API level 1

Returns the encoded form of this key, or null if encoding is not supported by this key.

Returns
`byte[]`	the encoded form of this key, or `null` if encoding is not supported by this key.

Added in API level 1

Returns the name of the format used to encode this key, or null if it can not be encoded.

Returns
`String`	the name of the format used to encode this key, or `null` if it can not be encoded.