public class KeyFactory
extends Object

Key factories are used to convert keys (opaque cryptographic keys of type Key) into key specifications (transparent representations of the underlying key material), and vice versa.

Key factories are bi-directional. That is, they allow you to build an opaque key object from a given key specification (key material), or to retrieve the underlying key material of a key object in a suitable format.

Multiple compatible key specifications may exist for the same key. For example, a DSA public key may be specified using DSAPublicKeySpec or X509EncodedKeySpec. A key factory can be used to translate between compatible key specifications.

The following is an example of how to use a key factory in order to instantiate a DSA public key from its encoding. Assume Alice has received a digital signature from Bob. Bob also sent her his public key (in encoded format) to verify his signature. Alice then performs the following actions: 

 X509EncodedKeySpec bobPubKeySpec = new X509EncodedKeySpec(bobEncodedPubKey);
 KeyFactory keyFactory = KeyFactory.getInstance("DSA");
 PublicKey bobPubKey = keyFactory.generatePublic(bobPubKeySpec);
 Signature sig = Signature.getInstance("DSA");
 sig.initVerify(bobPubKey);
 sig.update(data);
 sig.verify(signature);

Every implementation of the Java platform is required to support the following standard KeyFactory algorithms:

  • DiffieHellman
  • DSA
  • RSA

These algorithms are described in the KeyFactory section of the Java Security Standard Algorithm Names Specification. Consult the release documentation for your implementation to see if any other algorithms are supported.

Since:
1.2
See Also:
Key, PublicKey, PrivateKey, KeySpec, DSAPublicKeySpec, X509EncodedKeySpec

  • Constructor Details

    • KeyFactory

      Creates a KeyFactory object.

      Parameters:
      keyFacSpi - the delegate
      provider - the provider
      algorithm - the name of the algorithm to associate with this KeyFactory

  • Method Details

    • getInstance

      Returns a KeyFactory object that converts public/private keys of the specified algorithm.

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

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

      Implementation Note:
      The JDK Reference Implementation additionally uses the jdk.security.provider.preferred Security property to determine the preferred provider order for the specified algorithm. This may be different than the order of providers returned by Security.getProviders().
      Parameters:
      algorithm - the name of the requested key algorithm. See the KeyFactory section in the Java Security Standard Algorithm Names Specification for information about standard algorithm names.
      Returns:
      the new KeyFactory object
      Throws:
      NoSuchAlgorithmException - if no Provider supports a KeyFactorySpi implementation for the specified algorithm
      NullPointerException - if algorithm is null
      See Also:
      Provider

    • getInstance

      Returns a KeyFactory object that converts public/private keys of the specified algorithm.

      A new KeyFactory object encapsulating the KeyFactorySpi 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.

      Parameters:
      algorithm - the name of the requested key algorithm. See the KeyFactory section in the Java Security Standard Algorithm Names Specification for information about standard algorithm names.
      provider - the name of the provider.
      Returns:
      the new KeyFactory object
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - if the provider name is null or empty
      NoSuchAlgorithmException - if a KeyFactorySpi implementation for the specified algorithm is not available from the specified provider
      NoSuchProviderException - if the specified provider is not registered in the security provider list
      NullPointerException - if algorithm is null
      See Also:
      Provider

    • getInstance

      Returns a KeyFactory object that converts public/private keys of the specified algorithm.

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

      Parameters:
      algorithm - the name of the requested key algorithm. See the KeyFactory section in the Java Security Standard Algorithm Names Specification for information about standard algorithm names.
      provider - the provider.
      Returns:
      the new KeyFactory object
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - if the specified provider is null
      NoSuchAlgorithmException - if a KeyFactorySpi implementation for the specified algorithm is not available from the specified Provider object
      NullPointerException - if algorithm is null
      Since:
      1.4
      See Also:
      Provider

    • getProvider

      public final Provider getProvider()

      Returns the provider of this key factory object.

      Returns:
      the provider of this key factory object

    • getAlgorithm

      public final String getAlgorithm()

      Gets the name of the algorithm associated with this KeyFactory.

      Returns:
      the name of the algorithm associated with this KeyFactory

    • generatePublic

      Generates a public key object from the provided key specification (key material).

      Parameters:
      keySpec - the specification (key material) of the public key.
      Returns:
      the public key.
      Throws:
      InvalidKeySpecException - if the given key specification is inappropriate for this key factory to produce a public key.

    • generatePrivate

      Generates a private key object from the provided key specification (key material).

      Parameters:
      keySpec - the specification (key material) of the private key.
      Returns:
      the private key.
      Throws:
      InvalidKeySpecException - if the given key specification is inappropriate for this key factory to produce a private key.

    • getKeySpec

      Returns a specification (key material) of the given key object. keySpec identifies the specification class in which the key material should be returned. It could, for example, be DSAPublicKeySpec.class, to indicate that the key material should be returned in an instance of the DSAPublicKeySpec class.

      Type Parameters:
      T - the type of the key specification to be returned
      Parameters:
      key - the key.
      keySpec - the specification class in which the key material should be returned.
      Returns:
      the underlying key specification (key material) in an instance of the requested specification class.
      Throws:
      InvalidKeySpecException - if the requested key specification is inappropriate for the given key, or the given key cannot be processed (e.g., the given key has an unrecognized algorithm or format).

    • translateKey

      Translates a key object, whose provider may be unknown or potentially untrusted, into a corresponding key object of this key factory.

      Parameters:
      key - the key whose provider is unknown or untrusted.
      Returns:
      the translated key.
      Throws:
      InvalidKeyException - if the given key cannot be processed by this key factory.