Provides a basic API for managing private and public authentication credentials stored in file objects.

## Package overview

The GNU Keyring file format is a proposed standard file format for the long-term storage of cryptographic data, such as private keys and digital certificates. This format is being designed with the following goals:

- Protection of trusted credentials, through the use of a password-based MAC (message authentication code) over these credentials.
- Protection of secret credentials, through the use of a password-based MAC over the data, which is encrypted with a strong, password-based cipher.
- Management of disparate types of cryptographic data, such as different types of digital certificate.
- Extensibility. It should be possible to extend the file format when new requirements arise, without undo breakage of existing applications.
- Compatibility with the JDK. This means that it should be possible to use this format as a keystore, so GNU implementations of the Java platform can provide the same functionality as the JDK.

The following two diagrams show the important classes participating in this package. The first one showing the toplevel objects (files) , while the second shows the classes representinf their contents:

The latest draft copy of the GNU Keyring proposal is available from the GNU Crypto home page.