Secrets Chilkat2 Java Reference Documentation
Secrets
Current Version: 11.7.0
Markdown version of this page for AI tools (v 11.7.0) · all AI docs
Chilkat.Secrets
Use in-memory secrets when values should exist only for the lifetime of
the running process.
Store and retrieve secrets as strings, binary data, or structured JSON.
Start with the
Conceptual Overview
and
Components of a Secret Name.
For an extended overview, see the
Secrets Class Overview.
Manage application secrets through one consistent API.
Chilkat.Secrets provides a unified interface for storing,
retrieving, listing, and deleting secrets across local, cloud-based, and
in-memory secret stores. It supports string, binary, and JSON secrets, making
it useful for passwords, API keys, OAuth credentials, tokens, unlock codes,
certificates, and private configuration data.
Local secure storage
Cloud secret managers
Temporary secrets
Flexible content types
Object Creation
import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.ChilkatException;
import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.Secrets;
try (Secrets secrets = new Secrets()) {
// ... use secrets ...
} catch (ChilkatException e) {
System.out.println(e.getMessage()); // "Secrets.someMethod failed: <reason>"
System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText()); // the full log of the failed call
}Creates the underlying native Chilkat object. The native library (chilkat2java) is loaded the first time any Chilkat2 object is created; see the README in the download for where it is looked for (-Dchilkat2.library.path, a classpath resource, or java.library.path).
Releases the native object (Secrets is AutoCloseable, so try-with-resources calls it). Calling it again does nothing; any other method or property accessor called afterwards throws IllegalStateException. An object that is never closed is freed by a background cleaner once it becomes unreachable, but the garbage collector does not see native memory, so closing is the normal path. Objects returned by methods are owned by the caller too.
Returns true once close() has been called.
Errors
A method that fails throws ChilkatException, an unchecked exception carrying getClassName(), getMethodName(), getReason() (one line, also in the message) and getLastErrorText() (the full log, captured at the moment of the failure). The object remains usable. Methods that look something up and find nothing return null instead of throwing (each such method says so), and methods that answer a question (hasMember, isUnlocked, ...) return a plain boolean. Property accessors do not throw for Chilkat reasons.
A null string or object argument throws NullPointerException naming the parameter (except where a method documents that null is accepted), and a string containing U+0000 throws IllegalArgumentException.
Use an object from one thread at a time; it may be handed from one thread to another. The one cross-thread operation is setting setAbortCurrent(true) on an object that is busy in another thread (on the classes that have AbortCurrent). Unlocking: call new Global().unlockBundle("...") once at startup.
Properties
AutoSplit
boolean getAutoSplit()
void setAutoSplit(boolean value)
The AutoSplit property is specific to local_manager secrets on Windows. The Windows Credentials Manager supports a maximum of 2560 bytes per secret. If a secret exceeds this size, it will be automatically compressed and split when created or updated, and automatically recomposed when retrieved.
A secret can be split into a maximum of 10 parts.
The default value is true.
Compression
boolean getCompression()
void setCompression(boolean value)
If set to true, then the contents of the secret will be stored compressed. The default value of this property is false.
DebugLogFilePath
String getDebugLogFilePath()
void setDebugLogFilePath(String value)
If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. This logging helps identify the context and history of Chilkat calls leading up to any crash or hang, aiding in debugging.
Enabling the VerboseLogging property provides more detailed information. This property is mainly used for debugging rare instances where a Chilkat method call causes a hang or crash, which should generally not happen.
Possible causes of hangs include:
- A timeout property set to 0, indicating an infinite timeout.
- A hang occurring within an event callback in the application code.
- An internal bug in the Chilkat code causing the hang.
LastErrorHtml
String getLastErrorHtml()
Provides HTML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
topLastErrorText
String getLastErrorText()
Provides plain text information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
LastErrorXml
String getLastErrorXml()
Provides XML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
topLastMethodSuccess
boolean getLastMethodSuccess()
void setLastMethodSuccess(boolean value)
Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: true means success, false means failure. This property remains unchanged by property setters or getters. This method is present to address challenges in checking for null or Nothing returns in certain programming languages. Note: This property does not apply to methods that return integer values or to boolean-returning methods where the boolean does not indicate success or failure.
Location
String getLocation()
void setLocation(String value)
The location of the secrets. Possible values are:
local_manager- On Windows this is the Credentials Manager. On MacOS and iOS it is the Keychain. This is not yet an option on Linux or Android.aws_secrets_manager- AWS Secrets Managerazure_key_vault- Azure Key Vaultibm_cloud- IBM Cloud Secrets Manageroracle_cloud- Oracle Cloud Secretsdoppler- Doppler Secretsmemory- In-Memory Secrets
The default location is the local_manager. On Linux and Android, local_manager will behave the same as memory.
UncommonOptions
String getUncommonOptions()
void setUncommonOptions(String value)
This is a catch-all property to be used for uncommon needs. This property defaults to the empty string and should typically remain empty.
topVerboseLogging
boolean getVerboseLogging()
void setVerboseLogging(boolean value)
If set to true, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is false. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.
Version
String getVersion()
Methods
DeleteSecret
Deletes a secret. Cloud secrets managers will typically disable the secret and schedule the secret for deletion after some number of days.
Throws ChilkatException on failure; e.getLastErrorText() (or the object's getLastErrorText()) explains why, and the object remains usable.
GetSecretBd
Fetches a binary secret and returns the content in bd.
Throws ChilkatException on failure; e.getLastErrorText() (or the object's getLastErrorText()) explains why, and the object remains usable.
GetSecretJson
Fetches a JSON secret and returns the content in jsonOut.
Throws ChilkatException on failure; e.getLastErrorText() (or the object's getLastErrorText()) explains why, and the object remains usable.
GetSecretSb
Fetches a string secret and returns the content in sb.
Throws ChilkatException on failure; e.getLastErrorText() (or the object's getLastErrorText()) explains why, and the object remains usable.
GetSecretStr
Fetches a string secret and returns the content of the secret.
Throws ChilkatException on failure; e.getLastErrorText() (or the object's getLastErrorText()) explains why, and the object remains usable.
ListSecrets
Lists secrets matching the wildcarded or exact values passed in json. The results of the query are returned in jsonOut.
Throws ChilkatException on failure; e.getLastErrorText() (or the object's getLastErrorText()) explains why, and the object remains usable.
SecretSpecToJson
Converts a secret specification string (secretSpec) to JSON. A secret specification string is formatted as "!!part1|part2|part3|part4" where parts 3 and 4 are optional. json is the output argument.
Throws ChilkatException on failure; e.getLastErrorText() (or the object's getLastErrorText()) explains why, and the object remains usable.
SetBootstrapSecret
Accessing a cloud-based secrets manager requires authentication credentials, which cannot be stored in the manager itself. Instead, they must be securely stored locally.
One solution is to store the authentication credentials as a secret in the Windows Credentials Manager or Apple Keychain. These credentials serve as the bootstrap secret for authenticating with the cloud-based secrets manager.
jsonId contains the name of the bootstrap secret. secretContent contains the bootstrap's secret content.
Throws ChilkatException on failure; e.getLastErrorText() (or the object's getLastErrorText()) explains why, and the object remains usable.
UpdateSecretBd
Creates a binary secret if it does not yet exist, or updates an existing secret. The name of the secret is specified in jsonId, and the binary content of the secret in secret.
Throws ChilkatException on failure; e.getLastErrorText() (or the object's getLastErrorText()) explains why, and the object remains usable.
UpdateSecretJson
Creates a JSON secret if it does not yet exist, or updates an existing secret. The name of the secret is specified in jsonId, and the JSON content of the secret in secret.
Throws ChilkatException on failure; e.getLastErrorText() (or the object's getLastErrorText()) explains why, and the object remains usable.
UpdateSecretSb
Creates a string secret if it does not yet exist, or updates an existing secret. The name of the secret is specified in jsonId, and the string content of the secret in sb.
Throws ChilkatException on failure; e.getLastErrorText() (or the object's getLastErrorText()) explains why, and the object remains usable.
UpdateSecretStr
Creates a string secret if it does not yet exist, or updates an existing secret. The name of the secret is specified in jsonId, and the string content of the secret in secret.
Note: Starting in Chilkat v11.3.0, if the service = "Chilkat" and the username = "unlock_code", then the secret (which is the Chilkat unlock code) can be stored and retrieved without Chilkat being unlocked. This allows for the Chilkat unlock code itself to be persisted to a secrets manager.
Throws ChilkatException on failure; e.getLastErrorText() (or the object's getLastErrorText()) explains why, and the object remains usable.
Events
All Chilkat methods are synchronous: the call returns when the work is done. During a long-running call, Secrets reports progress through a ProgressListener, an interface with three methods, each with a default, so you override only what you need:
import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.ProgressListener;
secrets.setProgressListener(new ProgressListener() {
@Override public boolean percentDone(int pctDone) {
System.out.println(pctDone + "%");
return false; // return true to abort the method in progress
}
@Override public void progressInfo(String name, String value) {
System.out.println(name + ": " + value);
}
});For a single callback, a lambda is shorter:
secrets.onPercentDone(pct -> { System.out.println(pct + "%"); return false; });Installs listener as the receiver of this object's events, replacing any listener or lambda installed before; null removes it.
Returns the installed listener, or null.
Each installs a listener whose only callback is the given lambda (from java.util.function). Like setProgressListener, each replaces the listener installed before, so to handle more than one event, implement ProgressListener. null removes the listener.
abortCheck is called periodically during long operations; percentDone is called when an operation's completion percentage is known; progressInfo delivers named progress values. Returning true from abortCheck or percentDone aborts the running method, which then throws ChilkatException.
Callbacks run on the thread that called the method, before it returns. Inside a callback, property accessors of the object (such as setAbortCurrent(true)) and other objects may be used, but calling a method of the same object throws IllegalStateException. An exception thrown by a callback aborts the running method and is rethrown from it; the object remains usable.
AbortCheck
boolean abortCheck()
Enables a method call to be aborted by triggering the AbortCheck event at intervals defined by the HeartbeatMs property. If HeartbeatMs is set to its default value of 0, no events will occur. For instance, set HeartbeatMs to 200 to trigger 5 AbortCheck events per second.
Example
import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
final AtomicBoolean stop = new AtomicBoolean(false); // another thread may call stop.set(true)
secrets.onAbortCheck(() -> stop.get());PercentDone
boolean percentDone(int pctDone)
This provides the percentage completion for any method involving network communications or time-consuming processing, assuming the progress can be measured as a percentage. This event is triggered only when it's possible and logical to express the operation's progress as a percentage. The pctDone argument will range from 1 to 100. For methods that finish quickly, the number of PercentDone callbacks may vary, but the final callback will have pctDone equal to 100. For longer operations, callbacks will not exceed one per percentage point (e.g., 1, 2, 3, ..., 98, 99, 100).
The PercentDone callback also acts as an AbortCheck event. For fast methods where PercentDone fires, an AbortCheck event may not trigger since the PercentDone callback already provides an opportunity to abort. For longer operations, where time between PercentDone callbacks is extended, AbortCheck callbacks enable more responsive operation termination.
To abort the operation, set the abort output argument to true. This will cause the method to terminate and return a failure status or corresponding failure value.
Example
secrets.onPercentDone(pct -> {
// pct ranges from 0 to 100.
System.out.println("Percent done: " + pct);
return false; // return true to abort the method in progress
});ProgressInfo
void progressInfo(String name, String value)
This event callback provides tag name/value pairs that detail what occurs during a method call. To discover existing tag names, create code to handle the event, emit the pairs, and review them. Most tag names are self-explanatory.
Note: Some Chilkat methods don't fire any ProgressInfo events.
Example
secrets.onProgressInfo((name, value) -> System.out.println(name + ": " + value));