/* Principal.java -- A security entity
   Copyright (C) 1998, 2002, 2005  Free Software Foundation, Inc.

This file is part of GNU Classpath.

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permission to link this library with independent modules to produce an
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package java.security;

/**
 * This interface models an entity (such as a user or a certificate authority)
 * for the purposes of applying the Java security model.
 *
 * @author Aaron M. Renn (arenn@urbanophile.com)
 * @see X509Certificate
 * @since 1.1
 * @status updated to 1.4
 */
public interface Principal
{
  /**
   * This method tests another <code>Principal</code> object for equality
   * with this one.
   *
   * @param obj the Object to test for equality
   * @return true if the specified <code>Principal</code> is equal
   */
  boolean equals(Object obj);

  /**
   * This method returns a <code>String</code> representation of this
   * <code>Principal</code>.
   *
   * @return this <code>Principal</code> represented as a <code>String</code>
   */
  String toString();

  /**
   * This method returns a hash code value for this <code>Principal</code>.
   * Remember the contract of hashCode - two objects which compare as
   * equals() must have the same hashCode().
   *
   * @return a hash value
   */
  int hashCode();

  /**
   * This method returns a <code>String</code> that names this
   * <code>Principal</code>.
   *
   * @return the name of this <code>Principal</code>
   */
  String getName();
} // interface Principal
