/* Copyright 2004, 2005, 2006 Acegi Technology Pty Limited
*
* Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
* you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
* You may obtain a copy of the License at
*
* http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
*
* Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
* distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
* WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
* See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
* limitations under the License.
*/
package org.springframework.security;
/**
* Processes an {@link Authentication} request.
*
* @author Ben Alex
* @version $Id: AuthenticationManager.java 2217 2007-10-27 00:45:30Z luke_t $
*/
public interface AuthenticationManager {
//~ Methods ========================================================================================================
/**
* Attempts to authenticate the passed {@link Authentication} object, returning a fully populated
* <code>Authentication</code> object (including granted authorities) if successful.<p>An
* <code>AuthenticationManager</code> must honour the following contract concerning exceptions:</p>
* <p>A {@link DisabledException} must be thrown if an account is disabled and the
* <code>AuthenticationManager</code> can test for this state.</p>
* <p>A {@link LockedException} must be thrown if an account is locked and the
* <code>AuthenticationManager</code> can test for account locking.</p>
* <p>A {@link BadCredentialsException} must be thrown if incorrect credentials are presented. Whilst the
* above exceptions are optional, an <code>AuthenticationManager</code> must <B>always</B> test credentials.</p>
* <p>Exceptions should be tested for and if applicable thrown in the order expressed above (ie if an
* account is disabled or locked, the authentication request is immediately rejected and the credentials testing
* process is not performed). This prevents credentials being tested against disabled or locked accounts.</p>
*
* @param authentication the authentication request object
*
* @return a fully authenticated object including credentials
*
* @throws AuthenticationException if authentication fails
*/
Authentication authenticate(Authentication authentication)
throws AuthenticationException;
}
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