Package org.eclipse.equinox.security.storage

Interface ISecurePreferences

public interface ISecurePreferences
This interface describes functionality provided by secure preferences. Secure preferences can be used to persist sensitive information in an encrypted form.

Logically, secure preferences combine functionality of a keyring (keystore) and Preferences.

For an excellent detailed description of the preferences functionality see Preferences. To recap in a short form, preferences provide a tree. Nodes on that tree can be used to specify context. For instance, root node could have a child node called "cvs" to store information related to CVS integration.

Each node can have a map of keys with associated values. For instance, to store password for the CVS repository located on eclipse.org we could use the following code: 

 ISecurePreferences root = SecurePreferencesFactory.getDefault();
 ISecurePreferences node = root.node("cvs/eclipse.org");
 node.put("password", myPassword, true);

This interface has the following differences from the Preferences:

  • get...() and put...() methods throw StorageException
  • put...() methods have an extra argument bEncrypt
  • Methods that used to throw BackingStoreException will be throwing more detailed StorageException
  • Navigation on preferences tree will return ISecurePreferences, as opposing to Preferences
  • flush() throws IOException
  • sync() method is removed

On the keyring side, when adding a key to the node, you can ask framework to encrypt it. Framework will lazily acquire password from password provider and use it to encrypt all new entries added to the secure preferences tree in this session.

It is worthwhile to reiterate that same limitations as Preferences apply to the node names. One non-trivial limitation is that node names can not contain forward slashes. For convenience, utility methods EncodingUtils.encodeSlashes(String) and EncodingUtils.decodeSlashes(String) are provided to work around this limitation.

Also note that secure preferences only intended to store relatively small size data, such as passwords. If you need to securely store large objects, consider encrypting such objects in a symmetric way using randomly generated password and use secure preferences to store the password.

If secure preferences were modified, the framework will automatically save them on shutdown.

This interface is not intended to be implemented or extended by clients.

Restriction:
This interface is not intended to be implemented by clients.
Restriction:
This interface is not intended to be extended by clients.

  • Method Summary

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    String
    absolutePath()
    Returns absolute path to this node.
    String[]
    childrenNames()
    Returns names of children nodes
    void
    clear()
    Removes all values from this node.
    void
    flush()
    Saves the tree of secure preferences to the persistent storage.
    String
    get(String key, String def)
    Retrieves a value associated with the key in this node.
    boolean
    getBoolean(String key, boolean def)
    Retrieves a value associated with the key in this node.
    byte[]
    getByteArray(String key, byte[] def)
    Retrieves a value associated with the key in this node.
    double
    getDouble(String key, double def)
    Retrieves a value associated with the key in this node.
    float
    getFloat(String key, float def)
    Retrieves a value associated with the key in this node.
    int
    getInt(String key, int def)
    Retrieves a value associated with the key in this node.
    long
    getLong(String key, long def)
    Retrieves a value associated with the key in this node.
    boolean
    isEncrypted(String key)
    Specifies if value associated with the key is encrypted.
    String[]
    keys()
    Returns keys that have associated values.
    String
    name()
    Returns name of this node.
    ISecurePreferences
    node(String pathName)
    Returns node corresponding to the path specified.
    boolean
    nodeExists(String pathName)
    Checks if the node corresponding to the specified path exists in this tree of secure preferences.
    ISecurePreferences
    parent()
    Returns parent of this node
    void
    put(String key, String value, boolean encrypt)
    Stores a value associated with the key in this node.
    void
    putBoolean(String key, boolean value, boolean encrypt)
    Stores a value associated with the key in this node.
    void
    putByteArray(String key, byte[] value, boolean encrypt)
    Stores a value associated with the key in this node.
    void
    putDouble(String key, double value, boolean encrypt)
    Stores a value associated with the key in this node.
    void
    putFloat(String key, float value, boolean encrypt)
    Stores a value associated with the key in this node.
    void
    putInt(String key, int value, boolean encrypt)
    Stores a value associated with the key in this node.
    void
    putLong(String key, long value, boolean encrypt)
    Stores a value associated with the key in this node.
    void
    remove(String key)
    Removes value associated with the key.
    void
    removeNode()
    Removes this node from the tree of secure preferences.

  • Method Details

    • put

      void put(String key, String value, boolean encrypt) throws StorageException
      Stores a value associated with the key in this node.
      Parameters:
      key - key with which the value is going to be associated
      value - value to store
      encrypt - true if value is to be encrypted, false value does not need to be encrypted
      Throws:
      StorageException - if exception occurred during encryption
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.
      NullPointerException - if key is null.

    • get

      String get(String key, String def) throws StorageException
      Retrieves a value associated with the key in this node. If the value was encrypted, it is decrypted.
      Parameters:
      key - key with this the value is associated
      def - default value to return if the key is not associated with any value
      Returns:
      value associated the key. If value was stored in an encrypted form, it will be decrypted
      Throws:
      StorageException - if exception occurred during decryption
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.

    • remove

      void remove(String key)
      Removes value associated with the key.
      Parameters:
      key - key with which a value is associated
      Throws:
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.

    • clear

      void clear()
      Removes all values from this node.
      Throws:
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.

    • keys

      String[] keys()
      Returns keys that have associated values.
      Returns:
      keys that have associated values
      Throws:
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.

    • childrenNames

      String[] childrenNames()
      Returns names of children nodes
      Returns:
      names of children nodes
      Throws:
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.

    • parent

      ISecurePreferences parent()
      Returns parent of this node
      Returns:
      parent of this node
      Throws:
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.

    • node

      ISecurePreferences node(String pathName)
      Returns node corresponding to the path specified. If such node does not exist, a new node is created.

      If the node path is invalid, an IllegalArgumentException will be thrown by this method. The valid node path:

      • contains only ASCII characters between 32 and 126 (ASCII alphanumeric and printable characters);
      • can not contain two or more consecutive forward slashes;
      • can not end with a trailing forward slash.
      Parameters:
      pathName - absolute or relative path to the node
      Returns:
      node corresponding to the path
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - if the path name is invalid.
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.
      See Also:

    • nodeExists

      boolean nodeExists(String pathName)
      Checks if the node corresponding to the specified path exists in this tree of secure preferences.

      If the node path is invalid, an IllegalArgumentException will be thrown by this method. See node(String) for the description of what is considered to be a valid path.

      Parameters:
      pathName - absolute or relative path to the node
      Returns:
      true if node corresponding to the path exists, false otherwise
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - if the path name is invalid.
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.
      See Also:

    • removeNode

      void removeNode()
      Removes this node from the tree of secure preferences.
      Throws:
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.

    • name

      String name()
      Returns name of this node.
      Returns:
      name of this node
      Throws:
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.

    • absolutePath

      String absolutePath()
      Returns absolute path to this node.
      Returns:
      absolute path to this node
      Throws:
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.

    • flush

      void flush() throws IOException
      Saves the tree of secure preferences to the persistent storage. This method can be called on any node in the secure preference tree.
      Throws:
      IOException - if error occurred while saving secure preferences

    • putInt

      void putInt(String key, int value, boolean encrypt) throws StorageException
      Stores a value associated with the key in this node.
      Parameters:
      key - key with which the value is going to be associated
      value - value to store
      encrypt - true if value is to be encrypted, false value does not need to be encrypted
      Throws:
      StorageException - if exception occurred during encryption
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.
      NullPointerException - if key is null.

    • getInt

      int getInt(String key, int def) throws StorageException
      Retrieves a value associated with the key in this node. If the value was encrypted, it is decrypted.
      Parameters:
      key - key with this the value is associated
      def - default value to return if the key is not associated with any value
      Returns:
      value associated the key. If value was stored in an encrypted form, it will be decrypted
      Throws:
      StorageException - if exception occurred during decryption
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.

    • putLong

      void putLong(String key, long value, boolean encrypt) throws StorageException
      Stores a value associated with the key in this node.
      Parameters:
      key - key with which the value is going to be associated
      value - value to store
      encrypt - true if value is to be encrypted, false value does not need to be encrypted
      Throws:
      StorageException - if exception occurred during encryption
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.
      NullPointerException - if key is null.

    • getLong

      long getLong(String key, long def) throws StorageException
      Retrieves a value associated with the key in this node. If the value was encrypted, it is decrypted.
      Parameters:
      key - key with this the value is associated
      def - default value to return if the key is not associated with any value
      Returns:
      value associated the key. If value was stored in an encrypted form, it will be decrypted
      Throws:
      StorageException - if exception occurred during decryption
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.

    • putBoolean

      void putBoolean(String key, boolean value, boolean encrypt) throws StorageException
      Stores a value associated with the key in this node.
      Parameters:
      key - key with which the value is going to be associated
      value - value to store
      encrypt - true if value is to be encrypted, false value does not need to be encrypted
      Throws:
      StorageException - if exception occurred during encryption
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.
      NullPointerException - if key is null.

    • getBoolean

      boolean getBoolean(String key, boolean def) throws StorageException
      Retrieves a value associated with the key in this node. If the value was encrypted, it is decrypted.
      Parameters:
      key - key with this the value is associated
      def - default value to return if the key is not associated with any value
      Returns:
      value associated the key. If value was stored in an encrypted form, it will be decrypted
      Throws:
      StorageException - if exception occurred during decryption
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.

    • putFloat

      void putFloat(String key, float value, boolean encrypt) throws StorageException
      Stores a value associated with the key in this node.
      Parameters:
      key - key with which the value is going to be associated
      value - value to store
      encrypt - true if value is to be encrypted, false value does not need to be encrypted
      Throws:
      StorageException - if exception occurred during encryption
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.
      NullPointerException - if key is null.

    • getFloat

      float getFloat(String key, float def) throws StorageException
      Retrieves a value associated with the key in this node. If the value was encrypted, it is decrypted.
      Parameters:
      key - key with this the value is associated
      def - default value to return if the key is not associated with any value
      Returns:
      value associated the key. If value was stored in an encrypted form, it will be decrypted
      Throws:
      StorageException - if exception occurred during decryption
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.

    • putDouble

      void putDouble(String key, double value, boolean encrypt) throws StorageException
      Stores a value associated with the key in this node.
      Parameters:
      key - key with which the value is going to be associated
      value - value to store
      encrypt - true if value is to be encrypted, false value does not need to be encrypted
      Throws:
      StorageException - if exception occurred during encryption
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.
      NullPointerException - if key is null.

    • getDouble

      double getDouble(String key, double def) throws StorageException
      Retrieves a value associated with the key in this node. If the value was encrypted, it is decrypted.
      Parameters:
      key - key with this the value is associated
      def - default value to return if the key is not associated with any value
      Returns:
      value associated the key. If value was stored in an encrypted form, it will be decrypted
      Throws:
      StorageException - if exception occurred during decryption
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.

    • putByteArray

      void putByteArray(String key, byte[] value, boolean encrypt) throws StorageException
      Stores a value associated with the key in this node.
      Parameters:
      key - key with which the value is going to be associated
      value - value to store
      encrypt - true if value is to be encrypted, false value does not need to be encrypted
      Throws:
      StorageException - if exception occurred during encryption
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.
      NullPointerException - if key is null.

    • getByteArray

      byte[] getByteArray(String key, byte[] def) throws StorageException
      Retrieves a value associated with the key in this node. If the value was encrypted, it is decrypted.
      Parameters:
      key - key with this the value is associated
      def - default value to return if the key is not associated with any value
      Returns:
      value associated the key. If value was stored in an encrypted form, it will be decrypted
      Throws:
      StorageException - if exception occurred during decryption
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.

    • isEncrypted

      boolean isEncrypted(String key) throws StorageException
      Specifies if value associated with the key is encrypted.
      Parameters:
      key - key with which a value is associated
      Returns:
      true if value is encrypted, false otherwise
      Throws:
      StorageException - if stored data is invalid
      IllegalStateException - if this node (or an ancestor) has been removed with the removeNode() method.