PGPKeyring Class

Properties   Methods   Events   Config Settings   Errors  

The PGPKeyring class accesses and manages PGP keyring files.

Syntax

secureblackbox.PGPKeyring

Remarks

PGPKeyring is used to hold and access PGP keys. It contains information about both public keys and secret keys, which are usually stored in two separate files: "public keyring" and "secret keyring", respectively.

Property List

---

The following is the full list of the properties of the class with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Method List

---

The following is the full list of the methods of the class with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Event List

---

The following is the full list of the events fired by the class with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Config Settings

---

The following is a list of config settings for the class with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Keys Property (PGPKeyring Class)

PGP keys available in the keyring.

Syntax

public PGPKeyList getKeys();

Remarks

This property populates a collection of all pgp keys contained in the keyring.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

Please refer to the PGPKey type for a complete list of fields.

PinnedKey Property (PGPKeyring Class)

A PGP key that is being manipulated on.

Syntax

public PGPKey getPinnedKey();


public void setPinnedKey(PGPKey pinnedKey);

Remarks

Use this property to specify a key to perform operations on, such as adding.

This property is not available at design time.

Please refer to the PGPKey type for a complete list of fields.

SelectedKeys Property (PGPKeyring Class)

The keys matching the selection criteria.

Syntax

public PGPKeyList getSelectedKeys();

Remarks

This property contains all the keys that match the selection filter passed to Select method.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

Please refer to the PGPKey type for a complete list of fields.

Config Method (PGPKeyring Class)

Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.

Syntax

public String config(String configurationString);

Remarks

Config is a generic method available in every class. It is used to set and retrieve configuration settings for the class.

These settings are similar in functionality to properties, but they are rarely used. In order to avoid "polluting" the property namespace of the class, access to these internal properties is provided through the Config method.

To set a configuration setting named PROPERTY, you must call Config("PROPERTY=VALUE"), where VALUE is the value of the setting expressed as a string. For boolean values, use the strings "True", "False", "0", "1", "Yes", or "No" (case does not matter).

To read (query) the value of a configuration setting, you must call Config("PROPERTY"). The value will be returned as a string.

DoAction Method (PGPKeyring Class)

Performs an additional action.

Syntax

public String doAction(String actionID, String actionParams);

Remarks

DoAction is a generic method available in every class. It is used to perform an additional action introduced after the product major release. The list of actions is not fixed, and may be flexibly extended over time.

The unique identifier (case insensitive) of the action is provided in the ActionID parameter.

ActionParams contains the value of a single parameter, or a list of multiple parameters for the action in the form of PARAM1=VALUE1;PARAM2=VALUE2;....

ExportBytes Method (PGPKeyring Class)

Exports the keyring to a byte array.

Syntax

public byte[] exportBytes(boolean secret);

Remarks

Use this method to export the keyring to a byte array. PGP software typically uses two files to store keyrings. Use Secret parameter to specify which part of the keyring you would like to export (public or secret).

ExportToFile Method (PGPKeyring Class)

Exports the keyring to disk.

Syntax

public void exportToFile(String fileName, boolean secret);

Remarks

Use this method to export the keyring to disk. PGP software typically uses two files to store keyrings, public and private.

ExportToStream Method (PGPKeyring Class)

Exports the keyring to streams.

Syntax

public void exportToStream(java.io.OutputStream keyringStream, boolean secret);

Remarks

Use this method to export the keyring to streams. PGP software typically uses two files to store keyrings, public and private.

ImportBytes Method (PGPKeyring Class)

Loads a key from a byte array.

Syntax

public void importBytes(byte[] keyring);

Remarks

Use this method to load a key, either public or secret, from a byte array.

ImportFromFile Method (PGPKeyring Class)

Loads a key from a file.

Syntax

public void importFromFile(String keyringFile);

Remarks

Use this method to load a key, either public or secret, from a file.

ImportFromStream Method (PGPKeyring Class)

Loads a key from a stream.

Syntax

public void importFromStream(java.io.InputStream keyringStream);

Remarks

Use this method to load a key, either public or secret, from a stream.

ImportPinned Method (PGPKeyring Class)

Imports a pinned secret key to the keyring.

Syntax

public void importPinned();

Remarks

Use this method to import a key provided via PinnedKey to the keyring. This can be a public or secret key.

Remove Method (PGPKeyring Class)

Removes the specified key from the keyring.

Syntax

public void remove(int index);

Remarks

Use this method to remove a key from the keyring. Use Index to pass the index of the key to be removed.

RemoveByID Method (PGPKeyring Class)

Removes key by its ID.

Syntax

public void removeByID(String keyID);

Remarks

Call this method to remove the specified key from the keyring.

Reset Method (PGPKeyring Class)

Creates a new empty keyring.

Syntax

public void reset();

Remarks

Use this method to initialize a new empty keyring.

Select Method (PGPKeyring Class)

Filters a selection of keys from the keyring using a template.

Syntax

public void select(String filter, boolean secretOnly, int maxCount);

Remarks

Use this method to get a list of keys that satisfy the Filter criteria. The filter should follow the "Name=Value" format, where Name can be one of the following: userid, fp, fingerprint, and keyid.

Set SecretOnly to True to only search for secret keys. MaxCount allows to limit the number of keys returned.

Once the method completes, the keys that match the criteria will be available in SelectedKeys property.

UpdatePinned Method (PGPKeyring Class)

Update a pinned key in the keyring.

Syntax

public void updatePinned();

Remarks

Use this method to update a key provided via PinnedKey in the keyring. This can be a public or secret key.

Error Event (PGPKeyring Class)

Information about errors during PGP key management.

Syntax

public class DefaultPGPKeyringEventListener implements PGPKeyringEventListener {
  ...
  public void error(PGPKeyringErrorEvent e) {}
  ...
}

public class PGPKeyringErrorEvent {
  public int errorCode;
  public String description;
}

Remarks

The event is fired in case of exceptional conditions during key management.

ErrorCode contains an error code and Description contains a textual description of the error.

Notification Event (PGPKeyring Class)

This event notifies the application about an underlying control flow event.

Syntax

public class DefaultPGPKeyringEventListener implements PGPKeyringEventListener {
  ...
  public void notification(PGPKeyringNotificationEvent e) {}
  ...
}

public class PGPKeyringNotificationEvent {
  public String eventID;
  public String eventParam;
}

Remarks

The class fires this event to let the application know about some event, occurrence, or milestone in the class. For example, it may fire to report completion of the document processing. The list of events being reported is not fixed, and may be flexibly extended over time.

The unique identifier of the event is provided in the EventID parameter. EventParam contains any parameters accompanying the occurrence. Depending on the type of the class, the exact action it is performing, or the document being processed, one or both may be omitted.

PGPKey Type

This container represents a PGP key.

Remarks

OpenPGP standard supports several types of keys. In our days, a typical OpenPGP keypair actually consists of two cryptographic keys: a primary key and a subkey. The primary key is normally used for signing, while the subkey is used for encryption.

While it is typical for PGP environments to use a primary key/subkey bundle, this is not a must. Sometimes you may come across standalone keys (mainly when dealing with older implementations), as well as whole key trees, each of those carrying a bunch of differently-purposed subkeys bound to the same primary key.

Algorithm-wise, OpenPGP keys also differ. Generally speaking, OpenPGP supports the following public key algorithms: RSA, Elgamal (often incorrectly referred to as DH), DSA, ECDH and ECDSA. When it comes to primary key/subkey bundles, DSA/Elgamal, RSA/RSA and ECDSA/ECDH pairs are typically used. Although there's no restriction on algorithm bundles, and, e.g. a ECDSA/Elgamal key bundle is perfectly possible, such combination is rarely used in practice.

A typical OpenPGP key is associated with some kind of user ID (Username). It is normally represented with a user's e-mail address, while in theory can be any piece of text. The secret part of the OpenPGP keypair is protected with a password (Passphrase).

Fields

Constructors

public PGPKey();

public PGPKey( fileName);

Config Settings (PGPKeyring Class)

The class accepts one or more of the following configuration settings. Configuration settings are similar in functionality to properties, but they are rarely used. In order to avoid "polluting" the property namespace of the class, access to these internal properties is provided through the Config method.

PGPKeyring Config Settings

Base Config Settings

Trappable Errors (PGPKeyring Class)

PGPKeyring Errors