001/*
002 * Copyright 2008-2024 Ping Identity Corporation
003 * All Rights Reserved.
004 */
005/*
006 * Copyright 2008-2024 Ping Identity Corporation
007 *
008 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
009 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
010 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
011 *
012 *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
013 *
014 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
015 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
016 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
017 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
018 * limitations under the License.
019 */
020/*
021 * Copyright (C) 2008-2024 Ping Identity Corporation
022 *
023 * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
024 * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPLv2 only)
025 * or the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPLv2.1 only)
026 * as published by the Free Software Foundation.
027 *
028 * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
029 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
030 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
031 * GNU General Public License for more details.
032 *
033 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
034 * along with this program; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses>.
035 */
036package com.unboundid.util;
037
038
039
040import java.io.Serializable;
041
042import com.unboundid.asn1.ASN1OctetString;
043
044
045
046/**
047 * This interface defines a set of methods for treating a value as either a
048 * string or byte array.
049 */
050@NotExtensible()
051@ThreadSafety(level=ThreadSafetyLevel.INTERFACE_THREADSAFE)
052public interface ByteString
053       extends Serializable
054{
055  /**
056   * Retrieves a byte array containing the binary value for this byte string.
057   *
058   * @return  A byte array containing the binary value for this byte string.
059   */
060  @NotNull()
061  byte[] getValue();
062
063
064
065  /**
066   * Retrieves the value for this byte string as a {@code String}.
067   *
068   * @return  The value for this byte string as a {@code String}.
069   */
070  @NotNull()
071  String stringValue();
072
073
074
075  /**
076   * Appends the value of this byte string to the provided buffer.  It must not
077   * use the {@link ByteStringBuffer#append(ByteString)} method, since that
078   * method relies on this method.
079   *
080   * @param  buffer  The buffer to which the value should be appended.
081   */
082  void appendValueTo(@NotNull ByteStringBuffer buffer);
083
084
085
086  /**
087   * Converts this byte string to an ASN.1 octet string.
088   *
089   * @return  An ASN.1 octet string with the value of this byte string.
090   */
091  @NotNull()
092  ASN1OctetString toASN1OctetString();
093}