Hi guys,
I'd like to simplify the Identity Management API a bit where
credentials are concerned. At the moment we have the
following methods defined by the IdentityManager interface:
// Password Management
boolean validatePassword(User user, String password);
void updatePassword(User user, String password);
void setPasswordEncoder(PasswordEncoder encoder);
// Certificate Management
boolean validateCertificate(User user, X509Certificate
certificate);
boolean updateCertificate(User user, X509Certificate
certificate);
Furthermore, in IdentityStore we have these methods which are
essentially identical:
boolean validatePassword(User user, String password);
void updatePassword(User user, String password);
// Certificate Management
boolean validateCertificate(User user, X509Certificate
certificate);
boolean updateCertificate(User user, X509Certificate
certificate);
What I'd like to do is make this a little more abstract (and
more future proof) by replacing these methods (in both
interfaces) with the following two methods:
boolean validateCredential(User user, Credential
credential);
void updateCredential(User user, Credential credential);
Once the method invocation hits the IdentityStore
implementation, we have a choice as to what we want to do
here. I think the best option is to go with a credential
encoding API based on the work that Pedro has already done
(see [1] and [2]). My only suggestion would be to:
a) make it a little more generic (we should use a factory
object or something to provide the IdentityStore
implementation with the correct encoder based on the type of
credential)
b) provide the encoder implementation with an invocation
context containing a reference back to the calling
IdentityStore to allow access to its internal methods and/or
other state, and
c) provide pluggable access to the encoding process, to allow
the developer to provide custom behaviour for the encoding.
Does anyone have any suggestions or thoughts on this?
Shane
[1]
https://github.com/picketlink/picketlink/blob/master/idm/api/src/main/java/org/picketlink/idm/password/PasswordEncoder.java
[2]
https://github.com/picketlink/picketlink/blob/master/idm/impl/src/main/java/org/picketlink/idm/password/internal/SHASaltedPasswordEncoder.java