TAI subject creation by using TAIResult

The com.ibm.wsspi.security.tai.TrustAssociationInterceptor trust association interceptor (TAI) interface supports a multiphase, negotiated authentication process. For example, some systems require a challenge response protocol back to the client.

The TrustAssociationInterceptor interface includes a method that is called negotiateValidateandEstablishTrust, which includes the TAIResult return type. The TAIResult object indicates the status of the request processing.

The TAIResult class has three static methods for creating a TAIResult result. The TAIResult create methods take an int type as the first parameter. WebSphere® Application Server expects the result to be a valid HTTP request return code and is interpreted in one of the following ways:

If the value is HttpServletResponse.SC_OK, this response tells WebSphere Application Server that the TAI completed its negotiation. The response also tells WebSphere Application Server to use the information in the TAIResult result to create a user identity.
Other values tell WebSphere Application Server to return the TAI output, which is placed into the HttpServletResponse response, to the web client. Typically, the web client provides additional information and then calls the TAI again.

The following table explains the meaning of different TAIResult constructors.

Table 1. TAIResult constructor definitions
TAIResult constructor	Explanation
`public static TAIResult create(int status);`	Indicates a status to WebSphere Application Server. The status cannot be SC_OK because the identity information is provided.
`public static TAIResult create(int status, String principal);`	Indicates a status to WebSphere Application Server and provides the user ID or the unique ID for this user. WebSphere Application Server creates credentials by querying the user registry.
`public static TAIResult create(int status, String principal, Subject subject);`	Indicates a status to WebSphere Application Server, the user ID or the unique ID for the user, and a custom Subject. If the Subject contains a hashtable, the principal is ignored. The contents of the Subject become part of the eventual user Subject.

The following examples show ways that you can create a TAIResult object to return from the negotiateValidateandEstablishTrust method in your TAI.

The following code sample indicates that additional negotiation is required.

// Modify the HttpServletResponse object
//  The response code is meaningful only on the client
	return TAIResult.create(HttpServletResponse.SC_CONTINUE);

The following code sample indicates that the TAI determined the user identity. WebSphere Application Server receives the user ID only and queries the user registry for additional information.

// modify the HttpServletResponse object
	return TAIResult.create(HttpServletResponse.SC_OK, userid);

The following code sample indicates that the TAI determined the user identity. WebSphere Application Server receives the complete user information that is contained in the hashtable. For more information about the hashtable, see Configuring inbound identity mapping. In this code sample, the hashtable is placed in the public credential portion of the Subject.

// create Subject and place Hashtable in it
	Subject subject = new Subject;
	subject.getPublicCredentials().add(hashtable);
// the response code is meaningful for only the client
	return TAIResult.create(HttpServletResponse.SC_OK, "ignored", subject);