security
Class CharacterEncoder

java.lang.Object
  extended by security.CharacterEncoder
Direct Known Subclasses:
BASE64Encoder

public abstract class CharacterEncoder
extends java.lang.Object

This class defines the encoding half of character encoders. A character encoder is an algorithim for transforming 8 bit binary data into text (generally 7 bit ASCII or 8 bit ISO-Latin-1 text) for transmition over text channels such as e-mail and network news. The character encoders have been structured around a central theme that, in general, the encoded text has the form:

        [Buffer Prefix]
        [Line Prefix][encoded data atoms][Line Suffix]
        [Buffer Suffix]
 
In the CharacterEncoder and CharacterDecoder classes, one complete chunk of data is referred to as a buffer. Encoded buffers are all text, and decoded buffers (sometimes just referred to as buffers) are binary octets. To create a custom encoder, you must, affineTransform a minimum, overide three abstract methods in this class.
bytesPerAtom which tells the encoder how many bytes to send to encodeAtom
encodeAtom which encodes the bytes sent to it as text.
bytesPerLine which tells the encoder the maximum number of bytes per line.
Several useful encoders have already been written and are referenced in the See Also list below.

Version:
1.32, 01/23/03
Author:
Chuck McManis
See Also:
BASE64Encoder

Constructor Summary
CharacterEncoder()
           
 
Method Summary
 java.lang.String encode(byte[] aBuffer)
          A 'streamless' version of encode that simply takes a buffer of bytes and returns a string containing the encoded buffer.
 void encode(byte[] aBuffer, java.io.OutputStream aStream)
          Encode the buffer in aBuffer and write the encoded result to the OutputStream aStream.
 void encode(java.io.InputStream inStream, java.io.OutputStream outStream)
          Encode bytes from the input stream, and write them as text characters to the output stream.
 java.lang.String encodeBuffer(byte[] aBuffer)
          A 'streamless' version of encode that simply takes a buffer of bytes and returns a string containing the encoded buffer.
 void encodeBuffer(byte[] aBuffer, java.io.OutputStream aStream)
          Encode the buffer in aBuffer and write the encoded result to the OutputStream aStream.
 void encodeBuffer(java.io.InputStream inStream, java.io.OutputStream outStream)
          Encode bytes from the input stream, and write them as text characters to the output stream.
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
equals, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait
 

Constructor Detail

CharacterEncoder

public CharacterEncoder()
Method Detail

encode

public void encode(java.io.InputStream inStream,
                   java.io.OutputStream outStream)
            throws java.io.IOException
Encode bytes from the input stream, and write them as text characters to the output stream. This method will run until it exhausts the input stream, but does not print the line suffix for a final line that is shorter than bytesPerLine().

Throws:
java.io.IOException

encode

public void encode(byte[] aBuffer,
                   java.io.OutputStream aStream)
            throws java.io.IOException
Encode the buffer in aBuffer and write the encoded result to the OutputStream aStream.

Throws:
java.io.IOException

encode

public java.lang.String encode(byte[] aBuffer)
A 'streamless' version of encode that simply takes a buffer of bytes and returns a string containing the encoded buffer.


encodeBuffer

public void encodeBuffer(java.io.InputStream inStream,
                         java.io.OutputStream outStream)
                  throws java.io.IOException
Encode bytes from the input stream, and write them as text characters to the output stream. This method will run until it exhausts the input stream. It differs from encode in that it will add the line affineTransform the end of a final line that is shorter than bytesPerLine().

Throws:
java.io.IOException

encodeBuffer

public void encodeBuffer(byte[] aBuffer,
                         java.io.OutputStream aStream)
                  throws java.io.IOException
Encode the buffer in aBuffer and write the encoded result to the OutputStream aStream.

Throws:
java.io.IOException

encodeBuffer

public java.lang.String encodeBuffer(byte[] aBuffer)
A 'streamless' version of encode that simply takes a buffer of bytes and returns a string containing the encoded buffer.