org.springframework.security.core
Interface GrantedAuthority

All Superinterfaces:
Serializable
All Known Implementing Classes:
GrantedAuthorityImpl, JaasGrantedAuthority, SwitchUserGrantedAuthority

public interface GrantedAuthority
extends Serializable

Represents an authority granted to an Authentication object.

A GrantedAuthority must either represent itself as a String or be specifically supported by an AccessDecisionManager.

Version:
$Id$
Author:
Ben Alex

Method Summary
 String getAuthority()
          If the GrantedAuthority can be represented as a String and that String is sufficient in precision to be relied upon for an access control decision by an AccessDecisionManager (or delegate), this method should return such a String.
 

Method Detail

getAuthority

String getAuthority()
If the GrantedAuthority can be represented as a String and that String is sufficient in precision to be relied upon for an access control decision by an AccessDecisionManager (or delegate), this method should return such a String.

If the GrantedAuthority cannot be expressed with sufficient precision as a String, null should be returned. Returning null will require an AccessDecisionManager (or delegate) to specifically support the GrantedAuthority implementation, so returning null should be avoided unless actually required.

Returns:
a representation of the granted authority (or null if the granted authority cannot be expressed as a String with sufficient precision).


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