Package javax.mail

Class Authenticator

java.lang.Object
javax.mail.Authenticator
public abstract class Authenticator extends Object
The class Authenticator represents an object that knows how to obtain authentication for a network connection. Usually, it will do this by prompting the user for information.

Applications use this class by creating a subclass, and registering an instance of that subclass with the session when it is created. When authentication is required, the system will invoke a method on the subclass (like getPasswordAuthentication). The subclass's method can query about the authentication being requested with a number of inherited methods (getRequestingXXX()), and form an appropriate message for the user.

All methods that request authentication have a default implementation that fails.

See Also:

  • Constructor Details

    • Authenticator

      public Authenticator()

  • Method Details

    • getRequestingSite

      protected final InetAddress getRequestingSite()
      Returns:
      the InetAddress of the site requesting authorization, or null if it's not available.

    • getRequestingPort

      protected final int getRequestingPort()
      Returns:
      the port for the requested connection

    • getRequestingProtocol

      protected final String getRequestingProtocol()
      Give the protocol that's requesting the connection. Often this will be based on a URLName.
      Returns:
      the protcol
      See Also:

    • getRequestingPrompt

      protected final String getRequestingPrompt()
      Returns:
      the prompt string given by the requestor

    • getDefaultUserName

      protected final String getDefaultUserName()
      Returns:
      the default user name given by the requestor

    • getPasswordAuthentication

      protected PasswordAuthentication getPasswordAuthentication()
      Called when password authentication is needed. Subclasses should override the default implementation, which returns null.

      Note that if this method uses a dialog to prompt the user for this information, the dialog needs to block until the user supplies the information. This method can not simply return after showing the dialog.

      Returns:
      The PasswordAuthentication collected from the user, or null if none is provided.