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 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
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 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
 * by Oracle 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).
 *
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 *
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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();
}
