/*

* Copyright (c) 1996, 1998, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

* ORACLE PROPRIETARY/CONFIDENTIAL. Use is subject to license terms.

*

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*/

package java.security;

/**

* This interface represents the abstract notion of a principal, which

* can be used to represent any entity, such as an individual, a

* corporation, and a login id.

*

* @see java.security.cert.X509Certificate

*

* @author Li Gong

*/

public interface Principal {

/**

* Compares this principal to the specified object. Returns true

* if the object passed in matches the principal represented by

* the implementation of this interface.

*

* @param another principal to compare with.

*

* @return true if the principal passed in is the same as that

* encapsulated by this principal, and false otherwise.

*/

public boolean equals(Object another);

/**

* Returns a string representation of this principal.

*

* @return a string representation of this principal.

*/

public String toString();

/**

* Returns a hashcode for this principal.

*

* @return a hashcode for this principal.

*/

public int hashCode();

/**

* Returns the name of this principal.

*

* @return the name of this principal.

*/

public String getName();

}