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## java.security.cert
Class CertPathValidator

    java.lang.Object
      java.security.cert.CertPathValidator

    public class CertPathValidator

extends Object

A class for validating certification paths (also known as certificate chains).

This class uses a provider-based architecture, as described in the Java Cryptography Architecture. To create a `CertPathValidator`, call one of the static `getInstance` methods, passing in the algorithm name of the `CertPathValidator` desired and optionally the name of the provider desired.

Once a `CertPathValidator` object has been created, it can be used to validate certification paths by calling the `validate` method and passing it the `CertPath` to be validated and an algorithm-specific set of parameters. If successful, the result is returned in an object that implements the `CertPathValidatorResult` interface.

Concurrent Access

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

However, this is not true for the non-static methods defined by this class. Unless otherwise documented by a specific provider, threads that need to access a single `CertPathValidator` instance concurrently should synchronize amongst themselves and provide the necessary locking. Multiple threads each manipulating a different `CertPathValidator` instance need not synchronize.

Since:
  1.4
See Also:
  `CertPath`

Constructor Summary
`protected` | `CertPathValidator(CertPathValidatorSpi validatorSpi, Provider provider, String algorithm)` Creates a `CertPathValidator` object of the given algorithm, and encapsulates the given provider implementation (SPI object) in it.

Method Summary
`String` | `getAlgorithm()` Returns the algorithm name of this `CertPathValidator`.
`static String` | `getDefaultType()` Returns the default `CertPathValidator` type as specified in the Java security properties file, or the string "PKIX" if no such property exists.
`static CertPathValidator` | `getInstance(String algorithm)` Returns a `CertPathValidator` object that implements the specified algorithm.
`static CertPathValidator` | `getInstance(String algorithm, Provider provider)` Returns a `CertPathValidator` object that implements the specified algorithm, as supplied by the specified provider.
`static CertPathValidator` | `getInstance(String algorithm, String provider)` Returns a `CertPathValidator` object that implements the specified algorithm, as supplied by the specified provider.
`Provider` | `getProvider()` Returns the `Provider` of this `CertPathValidator`.
`CertPathValidatorResult` | `validate(CertPath certPath, CertPathParameters params)` Validates the specified certification path using the specified algorithm parameter set.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
`clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait`

Constructor Detail

### CertPathValidator

    protected CertPathValidator(CertPathValidatorSpi validatorSpi,
                                Provider provider,
                                String algorithm)

  Creates a `CertPathValidator` object of the given algorithm, and encapsulates the given provider implementation (SPI object) in it.

  Parameters:
    `validatorSpi` - the provider implementation
    `provider` - the provider
    `algorithm` - the algorithm name

Method Detail

### getInstance

    public static CertPathValidator getInstance(String algorithm)
                                         throws NoSuchAlgorithmException

  Returns a `CertPathValidator` object that implements the specified algorithm.

  If the default provider package provides an implementation of the specified `CertPathValidator` algorithm, an instance of `CertPathValidator` containing that implementation is returned. If the requested algorithm is not available in the default package, other packages are searched.

  Parameters:
    `algorithm` - the name of the requested `CertPathValidator` algorithm
  Returns:
    a `CertPathValidator` object that implements the specified algorithm
  Throws:
    `NoSuchAlgorithmException` - if the requested algorithm is not available in the default provider package or any of the other provider packages that were searched

### getInstance

    public static CertPathValidator getInstance(String algorithm,
                                                String provider)
                                         throws NoSuchAlgorithmException,
                                                NoSuchProviderException

  Returns a `CertPathValidator` object that implements the specified algorithm, as supplied by the specified provider.

  Parameters:
    `algorithm` - the name of the requested `CertPathValidator` algorithm
    `provider` - the name of the provider
  Returns:
    a `CertPathValidator` object that implements the specified algorithm, as supplied by the specified provider
  Throws:
    `NoSuchAlgorithmException` - if the requested algorithm is not available from the specified provider
    `NoSuchProviderException` - if the provider has not been configured
    `IllegalArgumentException` - if the `provider` is null

### getInstance

    public static CertPathValidator getInstance(String algorithm,
                                                Provider provider)
                                         throws NoSuchAlgorithmException

  Returns a `CertPathValidator` object that implements the specified algorithm, as supplied by the specified provider. Note: the `provider` doesn't have to be registered.

  Parameters:
    `algorithm` - the name of the requested `CertPathValidator` algorithm
    `provider` - the provider
  Returns:
    a `CertPathValidator` object that implements the specified algorithm, as supplied by the specified provider
  Throws:
    `NoSuchAlgorithmException` - if the requested algorithm is not available from the specified provider
    `IllegalArgumentException` - if the `provider` is null

### getProvider

    public final Provider getProvider()

  Returns the `Provider` of this `CertPathValidator`.

  Returns:
    the `Provider` of this `CertPathValidator`

### getAlgorithm

    public final String getAlgorithm()

  Returns the algorithm name of this `CertPathValidator`.

  Returns:
    the algorithm name of this `CertPathValidator`

### validate

    public final CertPathValidatorResult validate(CertPath certPath,
                                                  CertPathParameters params)
                                           throws CertPathValidatorException,
                                                  InvalidAlgorithmParameterException

  Validates the specified certification path using the specified algorithm parameter set.

  The `CertPath` specified must be of a type that is supported by the validation algorithm, otherwise an `InvalidAlgorithmParameterException` will be thrown. For example, a `CertPathValidator` that implements the PKIX algorithm validates `CertPath` objects of type X.509.

  Parameters:
    `certPath` - the `CertPath` to be validated
    `params` - the algorithm parameters
  Returns:
    the result of the validation algorithm
  Throws:
    `CertPathValidatorException` - if the `CertPath` does not validate
    `InvalidAlgorithmParameterException` - if the specified parameters or the type of the specified `CertPath` are inappropriate for this `CertPathValidator`

### getDefaultType

    public static final String getDefaultType()

  Returns the default `CertPathValidator` type as specified in the Java security properties file, or the string "PKIX" if no such property exists. The Java security properties file is located in the file named <JAVA_HOME>/lib/security/java.security, where <JAVA_HOME> refers to the directory where the JDK was installed.

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

  The default `CertPathValidator` type can be changed by setting the value of the "certpathvalidator.type" security property (in the Java security properties file) to the desired type.

  Returns:
    the default `CertPathValidator` type as specified in the Java security properties file, or the string "PKIX" if no such property exists.

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For further API reference and developer documentation, see Java 2 SDK SE Developer Documentation. That documentation contains more detailed, developer-targeted descriptions, with conceptual overviews, definitions of terms, workarounds, and working code examples.

Copyright 2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Use is subject to license terms. Also see the documentation redistribution policy.