/*
 * Copyright 2005 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
 *
 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
 * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Sun designates this
 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
 * by Sun in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
 *
 * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
 * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
 * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
 * accompanied this code).
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 *
 * Please contact Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara,
 * CA 95054 USA or visit www.sun.com if you need additional information or
 * have any questions.
 */
/*
 * $Id: AlgorithmMethod.java,v 1.4 2005/05/10 15:47:41 mullan Exp $
 */
package javax.xml.crypto;

import java.security.spec.AlgorithmParameterSpec;

/**
 * An abstract representation of an algorithm defined in the XML Security
 * specifications. Subclasses represent specific types of XML security
 * algorithms, such as a {@link javax.xml.crypto.dsig.Transform}.
 *
 * @author Sean Mullan
 * @author JSR 105 Expert Group
 * @since 1.6
 */
public interface AlgorithmMethod {

    /**
     * Returns the algorithm URI of this <code>AlgorithmMethod</code>.
     *
     * @return the algorithm URI of this <code>AlgorithmMethod</code>
     */
    String getAlgorithm();

    /**
     * Returns the algorithm parameters of this <code>AlgorithmMethod</code>.
     *
     * @return the algorithm parameters of this <code>AlgorithmMethod</code>.
     *    Returns <code>null</code> if this <code>AlgorithmMethod</code> does
     *    not require parameters and they are not specified.
     */
    AlgorithmParameterSpec getParameterSpec();
}