Group


1   /*
2    * @(#)Group.java   1.19 04/05/05
3    *
4    * Copyright 2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
5    * SUN PROPRIETARY/CONFIDENTIAL. Use is subject to license terms.
6    */
7   
8   package java.security.acl;
9   
10  import java.util.Enumeration  ;
11  import java.security.Principal  ;
12  
13  /**
14   * This interface is used to represent a group of principals. (A principal
15   * represents an entity such as an individual user or a company). <p>     
16   *
17   * Note that Group extends Principal. Thus, either a Principal or a Group can 
18   * be passed as an argument to methods containing a Principal parameter. For 
19   * example, you can add either a Principal or a Group to a Group object by 
20   * calling the object's <code>addMember</code> method, passing it the 
21   * Principal or Group.
22   *
23   * @author  Satish Dharmaraj
24   */
25  public interface Group extends Principal   {
26  
27      /**
28       * Adds the specified member to the group. 
29       *  
30       * @param user the principal to add to this group.
31       * 
32       * @return true if the member was successfully added, 
33       * false if the principal was already a member.
34       */
35      public boolean addMember(Principal   user);
36  
37      /**
38       * Removes the specified member from the group.
39       * 
40       * @param user the principal to remove from this group.
41       * 
42       * @return true if the principal was removed, or 
43       * false if the principal was not a member.
44       */
45      public boolean removeMember(Principal   user);
46  
47      /**
48       * Returns true if the passed principal is a member of the group. 
49       * This method does a recursive search, so if a principal belongs to a 
50       * group which is a member of this group, true is returned.
51       * 
52       * @param member the principal whose membership is to be checked.
53       * 
54       * @return true if the principal is a member of this group, 
55       * false otherwise.
56       */
57      public boolean isMember(Principal   member);
58  
59  
60      /**
61       * Returns an enumeration of the members in the group.
62       * The returned objects can be instances of either Principal 
63       * or Group (which is a subclass of Principal).
64       * 
65       * @return an enumeration of the group members.
66       */
67      public Enumeration  <? extends Principal  > members();
68  
69  }
70
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