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 * 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

 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided

 *

 * 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.

 *

 */

package java.security.acl;

import java.util.Enumeration;

import java.security.Principal;

/**

 * This is the interface used for representing one entry in an Access

 * Control List (ACL).<p>

 *

 * An ACL can be thought of as a data structure with multiple ACL entry

 * objects. Each ACL entry object contains a set of permissions associated

 * with a particular principal. (A principal represents an entity such as

 * an individual user or a group). Additionally, each ACL entry is specified

 * as being either positive or negative. If positive, the permissions are

 * to be granted to the associated principal. If negative, the permissions

 * are to be denied. Each principal can have at most one positive ACL entry

 * and one negative entry; that is, multiple positive or negative ACL

 * entries are not allowed for any principal.

 *

 * Note: ACL entries are by default positive. An entry becomes a

 * negative entry only if the

 * {@link #setNegativePermissions() setNegativePermissions}

 * method is called on it.

 *

 * @see java.security.acl.Acl

 *

 * @author      Satish Dharmaraj

 */

public interface AclEntry extends Cloneable {

    /**

     * Specifies the principal for which permissions are granted or denied

     * by this ACL entry. If a principal was already set for this ACL entry,

     * false is returned, otherwise true is returned.

     *

     * @param user the principal to be set for this entry.

     *

     * @return true if the principal is set, false if there was

     * already a principal set for this entry.

     *

     * @see #getPrincipal

     */

    public boolean setPrincipal(Principal user);

    /**

     * Returns the principal for which permissions are granted or denied by

     * this ACL entry. Returns null if there is no principal set for this

     * entry yet.

     *

     * @return the principal associated with this entry.

     *

     * @see #setPrincipal

     */

    public Principal getPrincipal();

    /**

     * Sets this ACL entry to be a negative one. That is, the associated

     * principal (e.g., a user or a group) will be denied the permission set

     * specified in the entry.

     *

     * Note: ACL entries are by default positive. An entry becomes a

     * negative entry only if this <code>setNegativePermissions</code>

     * method is called on it.

     */

    public void setNegativePermissions();

    /**

     * Returns true if this is a negative ACL entry (one denying the

     * associated principal the set of permissions in the entry), false

     * otherwise.

     *

     * @return true if this is a negative ACL entry, false if it's not.

     */

    public boolean isNegative();

    /**

     * Adds the specified permission to this ACL entry. Note: An entry can

     * have multiple permissions.

     *

     * @param permission the permission to be associated with

     * the principal in this entry.

     *

     * @return true if the permission was added, false if the

     * permission was already part of this entry's permission set.

     */

    public boolean addPermission(Permission permission);

    /**

     * Removes the specified permission from this ACL entry.

     *

     * @param permission the permission to be removed from this entry.

     *

     * @return true if the permission is removed, false if the

     * permission was not part of this entry's permission set.

     */

    public boolean removePermission(Permission permission);

    /**

     * Checks if the specified permission is part of the

     * permission set in this entry.

     *

     * @param permission the permission to be checked for.

     *

     * @return true if the permission is part of the

     * permission set in this entry, false otherwise.

     */

    public boolean checkPermission(Permission permission);

    /**

     * Returns an enumeration of the permissions in this ACL entry.

     *

     * @return an enumeration of the permissions in this ACL entry.

     */

    public Enumeration<Permission> permissions();

    /**

     * Returns a string representation of the contents of this ACL entry.

     *

     * @return a string representation of the contents.

     */

    public String toString();

    /**

     * Clones this ACL entry.

     *

     * @return a clone of this ACL entry.

     */

    public Object clone();

}