summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/libjava/classpath/java/security/Security.java
blob: 6cd98b0fb842680ef83de09b61f8b0c4c7f43b62 (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
/* Security.java --- Java base security class implementation
   Copyright (C) 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
   Free Software Foundation, Inc.

This file is part of GNU Classpath.

GNU Classpath is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
any later version.

GNU Classpath is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with GNU Classpath; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to the
Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
02110-1301 USA.

Linking this library statically or dynamically with other modules is
making a combined work based on this library.  Thus, the terms and
conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole
combination.

As a special exception, the copyright holders of this library give you
permission to link this library with independent modules to produce an
executable, regardless of the license terms of these independent
modules, and to copy and distribute the resulting executable under
terms of your choice, provided that you also meet, for each linked
independent module, the terms and conditions of the license of that
module.  An independent module is a module which is not derived from
or based on this library.  If you modify this library, you may extend
this exception to your version of the library, but you are not
obligated to do so.  If you do not wish to do so, delete this
exception statement from your version. */


package java.security;

import gnu.classpath.SystemProperties;

import gnu.classpath.Configuration;
import gnu.classpath.VMStackWalker;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.net.URL;
import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.Enumeration;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.HashSet;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.LinkedHashSet;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Properties;
import java.util.Set;
import java.util.Vector;

/**
 * This class centralizes all security properties and common security methods.
 * One of its primary uses is to manage security providers.
 *
 * @author Mark Benvenuto (ivymccough@worldnet.att.net)
 */
public final class Security
{
  private static final String ALG_ALIAS = "Alg.Alias.";

  private static Vector providers = new Vector();
  private static Properties secprops = new Properties();

  static
    {
      String base = SystemProperties.getProperty("gnu.classpath.home.url");
      String vendor = SystemProperties.getProperty("gnu.classpath.vm.shortname");

      // Try VM specific security file
      boolean loaded = loadProviders (base, vendor);

      // Append classpath standard provider if possible
      if (!loadProviders (base, "classpath")
          && !loaded
          && providers.size() == 0)
          {
              if (Configuration.DEBUG)
                  {
                      /* No providers found and both security files failed to
                       * load properly. Give a warning in case of DEBUG is
                       * enabled. Could be done with java.util.logging later.
                       */
                      System.err.println
                          ("WARNING: could not properly read security provider files:");
                      System.err.println
                          ("         " + base + "/security/" + vendor
                           + ".security");
                      System.err.println
                          ("         " + base + "/security/" + "classpath"
                           + ".security");
                      System.err.println
                          ("         Falling back to standard GNU security provider");
                  }
              // Note that this matches our classpath.security file.
              providers.addElement (new gnu.java.security.provider.Gnu());
              providers.addElement(new gnu.javax.crypto.jce.GnuCrypto());
              providers.addElement(new gnu.javax.crypto.jce.GnuSasl());
              providers.addElement(new gnu.javax.net.ssl.provider.Jessie());
              providers.addElement(new gnu.javax.security.auth.callback.GnuCallbacks());
          }
    }
  // This class can't be instantiated.
  private Security()
  {
  }

  /**
   * Tries to load the vender specific security providers from the given base
   * URL. Returns true if the resource could be read and completely parsed
   * successfully, false otherwise.
   */
  private static boolean loadProviders(String baseUrl, String vendor)
  {
    if (baseUrl == null || vendor == null)
      return false;

    boolean result = true;
    String secfilestr = baseUrl + "/security/" + vendor + ".security";
    try
      {
        InputStream fin = new URL(secfilestr).openStream();
        secprops.load(fin);

        int i = 1;
        String name;
        while ((name = secprops.getProperty("security.provider." + i)) != null)
          {
            Exception exception = null;
            try
              {
                ClassLoader sys = ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader();
                providers.addElement(Class.forName(name, true, sys).newInstance());
              }
            catch (ClassNotFoundException x)
              {
                exception = x;
              }
            catch (InstantiationException x)
              {
                exception = x;
              }
            catch (IllegalAccessException x)
              {
                exception = x;
              }

            if (exception != null)
              {
                System.err.println ("WARNING: Error loading security provider "
                                    + name + ": " + exception);
                result = false;
              }
            i++;
          }
      }
    catch (IOException ignored)
      {
        result = false;
      }

    return result;
  }

  /**
   * Returns the value associated to a designated property name for a given
   * algorithm.
   *
   * @param algName
   *          the algorithm name.
   * @param propName
   *          the name of the property to return.
   * @return the value of the specified property or <code>null</code> if none
   *         found.
   * @deprecated Use the provider-based and algorithm-independent
   *             {@link AlgorithmParameters} and {@link KeyFactory} engine
   *             classes instead.
   */
  public static String getAlgorithmProperty(String algName, String propName)
  {
    if (algName == null || propName == null)
      return null;

    String property = String.valueOf(propName) + "." + String.valueOf(algName);
    Provider p;
    for (Iterator i = providers.iterator(); i.hasNext(); )
      {
        p = (Provider) i.next();
        for (Iterator j = p.keySet().iterator(); j.hasNext(); )
          {
            String key = (String) j.next();
            if (key.equalsIgnoreCase(property))
              return p.getProperty(key);
          }
      }
    return null;
  }

  /**
   * Inserts a new designated {@link Provider} at a designated (1-based)
   * position in the current list of installed {@link Provider}s,
   *
   * @param provider
   *          the new {@link Provider} to add.
   * @param position
   *          the position (starting from 1) of where to install
   *          <code>provider</code>.
   * @return the actual position, in the list of installed Providers. Returns
   *         <code>-1</code> if <code>provider</code> was laready in the
   *         list. The actual position may be different than the desired
   *         <code>position</code>.
   * @throws SecurityException
   *           if a {@link SecurityManager} is installed and it disallows this
   *           operation.
   * @see #getProvider(String)
   * @see #removeProvider(String)
   * @see SecurityPermission
   */
  public static int insertProviderAt(Provider provider, int position)
  {
    SecurityManager sm = System.getSecurityManager();
    if (sm != null)
      sm.checkSecurityAccess("insertProvider." + provider.getName());

    position--;
    int max = providers.size ();
    for (int i = 0; i < max; i++)
      {
        if (((Provider) providers.elementAt(i)).getName().equals(provider.getName()))
          return -1;
      }

    if (position < 0)
      position = 0;
    if (position > max)
      position = max;

    providers.insertElementAt(provider, position);

    return position + 1;
  }

  /**
   * Appends the designated new {@link Provider} to the current list of
   * installed {@link Provider}s.
   *
   * @param provider
   *          the new {@link Provider} to append.
   * @return the position (starting from 1) of <code>provider</code> in the
   *         current list of {@link Provider}s, or <code>-1</code> if
   *         <code>provider</code> was already there.
   * @throws SecurityException
   *           if a {@link SecurityManager} is installed and it disallows this
   *           operation.
   * @see #getProvider(String)
   * @see #removeProvider(String)
   * @see SecurityPermission
   */
  public static int addProvider(Provider provider)
  {
    return insertProviderAt (provider, providers.size () + 1);
  }

  /**
   * Removes an already installed {@link Provider}, given its name, from the
   * current list of installed {@link Provider}s.
   *
   * @param name
   *          the name of an already installed {@link Provider} to remove.
   * @throws SecurityException
   *           if a {@link SecurityManager} is installed and it disallows this
   *           operation.
   * @see #getProvider(String)
   * @see #addProvider(Provider)
   */
  public static void removeProvider(String name)
  {
    SecurityManager sm = System.getSecurityManager();
    if (sm != null)
      sm.checkSecurityAccess("removeProvider." + name);

    int max = providers.size ();
    for (int i = 0; i < max; i++)
      {
        if (((Provider) providers.elementAt(i)).getName().equals(name))
          {
            providers.remove(i);
            break;
          }
      }
  }

  /**
   * Returns the current list of installed {@link Provider}s as an array
   * ordered according to their installation preference order.
   *
   * @return an array of all the installed providers.
   */
  public static Provider[] getProviders()
  {
    Provider[] array = new Provider[providers.size ()];
    providers.copyInto (array);
    return array;
  }

  /**
   * Returns an already installed {@link Provider} given its name.
   *
   * @param name
   *          the name of an already installed {@link Provider}.
   * @return the {@link Provider} known by <code>name</code>. Returns
   *         <code>null</code> if the current list of {@link Provider}s does
   *         not include one named <code>name</code>.
   * @see #removeProvider(String)
   * @see #addProvider(Provider)
   */
  public static Provider getProvider(String name)
  {
    if (name == null)
      return null;
    else
      {
        name = name.trim();
        if (name.length() == 0)
          return null;
      }
    Provider p;
    int max = providers.size ();
    for (int i = 0; i < max; i++)
      {
        p = (Provider) providers.elementAt(i);
        if (p.getName().equals(name))
          return p;
      }
    return null;
  }

  /**
   * Returns the value associated with a Security propery.
   *
   * @param key
   *          the key of the property to fetch.
   * @return the value of the Security property associated with
   *         <code>key</code>. Returns <code>null</code> if no such property
   *         was found.
   * @throws SecurityException
   *           if a {@link SecurityManager} is installed and it disallows this
   *           operation.
   * @see #setProperty(String, String)
   * @see SecurityPermission
   */
  public static String getProperty(String key)
  {
    // XXX To prevent infinite recursion when the SecurityManager calls us,
    // don't do a security check if the caller is trusted (by virtue of having
    // been loaded by the bootstrap class loader).
    SecurityManager sm = System.getSecurityManager();
    if (sm != null && VMStackWalker.getCallingClassLoader() != null)
      sm.checkSecurityAccess("getProperty." + key);

    return secprops.getProperty(key);
  }

  /**
   * Sets or changes a designated Security property to a designated value.
   *
   * @param key
   *          the name of the property to set.
   * @param datum
   *          the new value of the property.
   * @throws SecurityException
   *           if a {@link SecurityManager} is installed and it disallows this
   *           operation.
   * @see #getProperty(String)
   * @see SecurityPermission
   */
  public static void setProperty(String key, String datum)
  {
    SecurityManager sm = System.getSecurityManager();
    if (sm != null)
      sm.checkSecurityAccess("setProperty." + key);

    if (datum == null)
      secprops.remove(key);
    else
      secprops.put(key, datum);
  }

  /**
   * For a given <i>service</i> (e.g. Signature, MessageDigest, etc...) this
   * method returns the {@link Set} of all available algorithm names (instances
   * of {@link String}, from all currently installed {@link Provider}s.
   *
   * @param serviceName
   *          the case-insensitive name of a service (e.g. Signature,
   *          MessageDigest, etc).
   * @return a {@link Set} of {@link String}s containing the names of all
   *         algorithm names provided by all of the currently installed
   *         {@link Provider}s.
   * @since 1.4
   */
  public static Set<String> getAlgorithms(String serviceName)
  {
    HashSet<String> result = new HashSet<String>();
    if (serviceName == null || serviceName.length() == 0)
      return result;

    serviceName = serviceName.trim();
    if (serviceName.length() == 0)
      return result;

    serviceName = serviceName.toUpperCase()+".";
    Provider[] providers = getProviders();
    int ndx;
    for (int i = 0; i < providers.length; i++)
      for (Enumeration e = providers[i].propertyNames(); e.hasMoreElements(); )
        {
          String service = ((String) e.nextElement()).trim();
          if (service.toUpperCase().startsWith(serviceName))
            {
              service = service.substring(serviceName.length()).trim();
              ndx = service.indexOf(' '); // get rid of attributes
              if (ndx != -1)
                service = service.substring(0, ndx);
              result.add(service);
            }
        }
    return Collections.unmodifiableSet(result);
  }

  /**
   * Returns an array of currently installed {@link Provider}s, ordered
   * according to their installation preference order, which satisfy a given
   * <i>selection</i> criterion.
   *
   * <p>This implementation recognizes a <i>selection</i> criterion written in
   * one of two following forms:</p>
   *
   * <ul>
   *   <li>&lt;crypto_service&gt;.&lt;algorithm_or_type&gt;: Where
   *   <i>crypto_service</i> is a case-insensitive string, similar to what has
   *   been described in the {@link #getAlgorithms(String)} method, and
   *   <i>algorithm_or_type</i> is a known case-insensitive name of an
   *   Algorithm, or one of its aliases.
   *
   *   <p>For example, "CertificateFactory.X.509" would return all the installed
   *   {@link Provider}s which provide a <i>CertificateFactory</i>
   *   implementation of <i>X.509</i>.</p></li>
   *
   *   <li>&lt;crypto_service&gt;.&lt;algorithm_or_type&gt; &lt;attribute_name&gt;:&lt;value&gt;:
   *   Where <i>crypto_service</i> is a case-insensitive string, similar to what
   *   has been described in the {@link #getAlgorithms(String)} method,
   *   <i>algorithm_or_type</i> is a case-insensitive known name of an Algorithm
   *   or one of its aliases, <i>attribute_name</i> is a case-insensitive
   *   property name with no whitespace characters, and no dots, in-between, and
   *   <i>value</i> is a {@link String} with no whitespace characters in-between.
   *
   *   <p>For example, "Signature.Sha1WithDSS KeySize:1024" would return all the
   *   installed {@link Provider}s which declared their ability to provide
   *   <i>Signature</i> services, using the <i>Sha1WithDSS</i> algorithm with
   *   key sizes of <i>1024</i>.</p></li>
   * </ul>
   *
   * @param filter
   *          the <i>selection</i> criterion for selecting among the installed
   *          {@link Provider}s.
   * @return all the installed {@link Provider}s which satisfy the <i>selection</i>
   *         criterion. Returns <code>null</code> if no installed
   *         {@link Provider}s were found which satisfy the <i>selection</i>
   *         criterion. Returns ALL installed {@link Provider}s if
   *         <code>filter</code> is <code>null</code> or is an empty string.
   * @throws InvalidParameterException
   *           if an exception occurs while parsing the <code>filter</code>.
   * @see #getProviders(Map)
   */
  public static Provider[] getProviders(String filter)
  {
    if (providers == null || providers.isEmpty())
      return null;

    if (filter == null || filter.length() == 0)
      return getProviders();

    HashMap map = new HashMap(1);
    int i = filter.indexOf(':');
    if (i == -1) // <service>.<algorithm>
      map.put(filter, "");
    else // <service>.<algorithm> <attribute>:<value>
      map.put(filter.substring(0, i), filter.substring(i+1));

    return getProviders(map);
  }

  /**
   * Returns an array of currently installed {@link Provider}s which satisfy a
   * set of <i>selection</i> criteria.
   *
   * <p>The <i>selection</i> criteria are defined in a {@link Map} where each
   * element specifies a <i>selection</i> querry. The <i>Keys</i> in this
   * {@link Map} must be in one of the two following forms:</p>
   *
   * <ul>
   *   <li>&lt;crypto_service&gt;.&lt;algorithm_or_type&gt;: Where
   *   <i>crypto_service</i> is a case-insensitive string, similar to what has
   *   been described in the {@link #getAlgorithms(String)} method, and
   *   <i>algorithm_or_type</i> is a case-insensitive known name of an
   *   Algorithm, or one of its aliases. The <i>value</i> of the entry in the
   *   {@link Map} for such a <i>Key</i> MUST be the empty string.
   *   {@link Provider}s which provide an implementation for the designated
   *   <i>service algorithm</i> are included in the result.</li>
   *
   *   <li>&lt;crypto_service&gt;.&lt;algorithm_or_type&gt; &lt;attribute_name&gt;:
   *   Where <i>crypto_service</i> is a case-insensitive string, similar to what
   *   has been described in the {@link #getAlgorithms(String)} method,
   *   <i>algorithm_or_type</i> is a case-insensitive known name of an Algorithm
   *   or one of its aliases, and <i>attribute_name</i> is a case-insensitive
   *   property name with no whitespace characters, and no dots, in-between. The
   *   <i>value</i> of the entry in this {@link Map} for such a <i>Key</i> MUST
   *   NOT be <code>null</code> or an empty string. {@link Provider}s which
   *   declare the designated <i>attribute_name</i> and <i>value</i> for the
   *   designated <i>service algorithm</i> are included in the result.</li>
   * </ul>
   *
   * @param filter
   *          a {@link Map} of <i>selection querries</i>.
   * @return all currently installed {@link Provider}s which satisfy ALL the
   *         <i>selection</i> criteria defined in <code>filter</code>.
   *         Returns ALL installed {@link Provider}s if <code>filter</code>
   *         is <code>null</code> or empty.
   * @throws InvalidParameterException
   *           if an exception is encountered while parsing the syntax of the
   *           {@link Map}'s <i>keys</i>.
   * @see #getProviders(String)
   */
  public static Provider[] getProviders(Map<String,String> filter)
  {
    if (providers == null || providers.isEmpty())
      return null;

    if (filter == null)
      return getProviders();

    Set<String> querries = filter.keySet();
    if (querries == null || querries.isEmpty())
      return getProviders();

    LinkedHashSet result = new LinkedHashSet(providers); // assume all
    int dot, ws;
    String querry, service, algorithm, attribute, value;
    LinkedHashSet serviceProviders = new LinkedHashSet(); // preserve insertion order
    for (Iterator i = querries.iterator(); i.hasNext(); )
      {
        querry = (String) i.next();
        if (querry == null) // all providers
          continue;

        querry = querry.trim();
        if (querry.length() == 0) // all providers
          continue;

        dot = querry.indexOf('.');
        if (dot == -1) // syntax error
          throw new InvalidParameterException(
              "missing dot in '" + String.valueOf(querry)+"'");

        value = filter.get(querry);
        // deconstruct querry into [service, algorithm, attribute]
        if (value == null || value.trim().length() == 0) // <service>.<algorithm>
          {
            value = null;
            attribute = null;
            service = querry.substring(0, dot).trim();
            algorithm = querry.substring(dot+1).trim();
          }
        else // <service>.<algorithm> <attribute>
          {
            ws = querry.indexOf(' ');
            if (ws == -1)
              throw new InvalidParameterException(
                  "value (" + String.valueOf(value) +
                  ") is not empty, but querry (" + String.valueOf(querry) +
                  ") is missing at least one space character");
            value = value.trim();
            attribute = querry.substring(ws+1).trim();
            // was the dot in the attribute?
            if (attribute.indexOf('.') != -1)
              throw new InvalidParameterException(
                  "attribute_name (" + String.valueOf(attribute) +
                  ") in querry (" + String.valueOf(querry) + ") contains a dot");

            querry = querry.substring(0, ws).trim();
            service = querry.substring(0, dot).trim();
            algorithm = querry.substring(dot+1).trim();
          }

        // service and algorithm must not be empty
        if (service.length() == 0)
          throw new InvalidParameterException(
              "<crypto_service> in querry (" + String.valueOf(querry) +
              ") is empty");

        if (algorithm.length() == 0)
          throw new InvalidParameterException(
              "<algorithm_or_type> in querry (" + String.valueOf(querry) +
              ") is empty");

        selectProviders(service, algorithm, attribute, value, result, serviceProviders);
        result.retainAll(serviceProviders); // eval next retaining found providers
        if (result.isEmpty()) // no point continuing
          break;
      }

    if (result.isEmpty())
      return null;

    return (Provider[]) result.toArray(new Provider[result.size()]);
  }

  private static void selectProviders(String svc, String algo, String attr,
                                      String val, LinkedHashSet providerSet,
                                      LinkedHashSet result)
  {
    result.clear(); // ensure we start with an empty result set
    for (Iterator i = providerSet.iterator(); i.hasNext(); )
      {
        Provider p = (Provider) i.next();
        if (provides(p, svc, algo, attr, val))
          result.add(p);
      }
  }

  private static boolean provides(Provider p, String svc, String algo,
                                  String attr, String val)
  {
    Iterator it;
    String serviceDotAlgorithm = null;
    String key = null;
    String realVal;
    boolean found = false;
    // if <svc>.<algo> <attr> is in the set then so is <svc>.<algo>
    // but it may be stored under an alias <algo>. resolve
    outer: for (int r = 0; r < 3; r++) // guard against circularity
      {
        serviceDotAlgorithm = (svc+"."+String.valueOf(algo)).trim();
        for (it = p.keySet().iterator(); it.hasNext(); )
          {
            key = (String) it.next();
            if (key.equalsIgnoreCase(serviceDotAlgorithm)) // eureka
              {
                found = true;
                break outer;
              }
            // it may be there but as an alias
            if (key.equalsIgnoreCase(ALG_ALIAS + serviceDotAlgorithm))
              {
                algo = p.getProperty(key);
                continue outer;
              }
            // else continue inner
          }
      }

    if (!found)
      return false;

    // found a candidate for the querry.  do we have an attr to match?
    if (val == null) // <service>.<algorithm> querry
      return true;

    // <service>.<algorithm> <attribute>; find the key entry that match
    String realAttr;
    int limit = serviceDotAlgorithm.length() + 1;
    for (it = p.keySet().iterator(); it.hasNext(); )
      {
        key = (String) it.next();
        if (key.length() <= limit)
          continue;

        if (key.substring(0, limit).equalsIgnoreCase(serviceDotAlgorithm+" "))
          {
            realAttr = key.substring(limit).trim();
            if (! realAttr.equalsIgnoreCase(attr))
              continue;

            // eveything matches so far.  do the value
            realVal = p.getProperty(key);
            if (realVal == null)
              return false;

            realVal = realVal.trim();
            // is it a string value?
            if (val.equalsIgnoreCase(realVal))
              return true;

            // assume value is a number. cehck for greater-than-or-equal
            return (Integer.parseInt(val) >= Integer.parseInt(realVal));
          }
      }

    return false;
  }
}