Implement this interface to participate in the stackable authentication mechanism. See the
AuthenticationManager
class for details about configuring authentication handlers.
Each authentication method provides a way to map "credentials" supplied by the client into a DSpace e-person. "Authentication" is when the credentials are compared against some sort of registry or other test of authenticity.
The DSpace instance may configure many authentication methods, in a "stack". The same credentials are passed to each method in turn until one accepts them, so each method need only attempt to interpret and validate the credentials and fail gracefully if they are not appropriate for it. The next method in the stack is then called.
@see AuthenticationManager
@author Larry Stone
@version $Revision: 4308 $