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java.net

Class Authenticator

java.lang.Object
|
+--java.net.Authenticator


public abstract class Authenticator

extends Object

This abstract class provides a model for obtaining authentication information (in the form of a username and password) required by some network operations (such as hitting a password protected web site).

To make use of this feature, a programmer must create a subclass of Authenticator that knows how to obtain the necessary info. An example would be a class that popped up a dialog box to prompt the user. After creating an instance of that subclass, the static setDefault method of this class is called to set up that instance as the object to use on subsequent calls to obtain authorization.

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Constructor Summary

Authenticator()

Default, no-argument constructor for subclasses to call.

Method Summary

java.net.PasswordAuthenticationgetPasswordAuthentication()

This method is called whenever a request for authentication is made.
java.lang.StringgetRequestingHost()

Returns the hostname of the host or proxy requesting authorization, or null if not available.
intgetRequestingPort()

This method returns the port of the site that is requesting authentication.
java.lang.StringgetRequestingPrompt()

Returns the prompt that should be used when requesting authentication information from the user
java.lang.StringgetRequestingProtocol()

This method returns the requesting protocol of the operation that is requesting authentication
java.lang.StringgetRequestingScheme()

This method returns the authentication scheme in use
java.net.InetAddressgetRequestingSite()

This method returns the address of the site that is requesting authentication.
static java.net.PasswordAuthenticationrequestPasswordAuthentication(java.net.InetAddress addr, int port, java.lang.String protocol, java.lang.String prompt, java.lang.String scheme)

This method is called whenever a username and password for a given network operation is required.
static java.net.PasswordAuthenticationrequestPasswordAuthentication(java.lang.String host, java.net.InetAddress addr, int port, java.lang.String protocol, java.lang.String prompt, java.lang.String scheme)

This method is called whenever a username and password for a given network operation is required.
static voidsetDefault(java.net.Authenticator def_auth)

This method sets the default Authenticator object (an instance of a subclass of Authenticator) to use when prompting the user for information.

Constructor Details

Authenticator

public Authenticator()

Default, no-argument constructor for subclasses to call.


Method Details

getPasswordAuthentication

protected PasswordAuthentication getPasswordAuthentication()

This method is called whenever a request for authentication is made. It can call the other getXXX methods to determine the information relevant to this request. Subclasses should override this method, which returns null by default.

Returns:


getRequestingHost

protected final String getRequestingHost()

Returns the hostname of the host or proxy requesting authorization, or null if not available.

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getRequestingPort

protected final int getRequestingPort()

This method returns the port of the site that is requesting authentication.

Returns:


getRequestingPrompt

protected final String getRequestingPrompt()

Returns the prompt that should be used when requesting authentication information from the user

Returns:


getRequestingProtocol

protected final String getRequestingProtocol()

This method returns the requesting protocol of the operation that is requesting authentication

Returns:


getRequestingScheme

protected final String getRequestingScheme()

This method returns the authentication scheme in use

Returns:


getRequestingSite

protected final InetAddress getRequestingSite()

This method returns the address of the site that is requesting authentication.

Returns:


requestPasswordAuthentication

public static PasswordAuthentication requestPasswordAuthentication(java.lang.String host, java.net.InetAddress addr, int port, java.lang.String protocol, java.lang.String prompt, java.lang.String scheme)

This method is called whenever a username and password for a given network operation is required. First, a security check is made to see if the caller has the "requestPasswordAuthentication" permission. If not, the method thows an exception. If there is no default Authenticator object, the method then returns null. Otherwise, the default authenticators's instance variables are initialized and it's getPasswordAuthentication method is called to get the actual authentication information to return. This method is the preferred one as it can be used with hostname when addr is unknown.

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Returns:

Throws:


requestPasswordAuthentication

public static PasswordAuthentication requestPasswordAuthentication(java.net.InetAddress addr, int port, java.lang.String protocol, java.lang.String prompt, java.lang.String scheme)

This method is called whenever a username and password for a given network operation is required. First, a security check is made to see if the caller has the "requestPasswordAuthentication" permission. If not, the method thows an exception. If there is no default Authenticator object, the method then returns null. Otherwise, the default authenticators's instance variables are initialized and it's getPasswordAuthentication method is called to get the actual authentication information to return.

Parameters:

Returns:

Throws:


setDefault

public static void setDefault(java.net.Authenticator def_auth)

This method sets the default Authenticator object (an instance of a subclass of Authenticator) to use when prompting the user for information. Note that this method checks to see if the caller is allowed to set this value (the "setDefaultAuthenticator" permission) and throws a SecurityException if it is not.

Parameters:

Throws: