ASN1Primitive (Bouncy Castle Library 1.85 API Specification)
Date: 2026-07-12

org.bouncycastle.asn1

## Class ASN1Primitive

- java.lang.Object
- - org.bouncycastle.asn1.ASN1Object
  - - org.bouncycastle.asn1.ASN1Primitive

- All Implemented Interfaces:
    ASN1Encodable, Encodable
  Direct Known Subclasses:
    ASN1Absent, ASN1BitString, ASN1BMPString, ASN1Boolean, ASN1Enumerated, ASN1External, ASN1GeneralizedTime, ASN1GeneralString, ASN1GraphicString, ASN1IA5String, ASN1Integer, ASN1Null, ASN1NumericString, ASN1ObjectDescriptor, ASN1ObjectIdentifier, ASN1OctetString, ASN1PrintableString, ASN1RelativeOID, ASN1Sequence, ASN1Set, ASN1T61String, ASN1TaggedObject, ASN1UniversalString, ASN1UTCTime, ASN1UTF8String, ASN1VideotexString, ASN1VisibleString

      public abstract class ASN1Primitive
      extends ASN1Object

  Base class for ASN.1 primitive objects. These are the actual objects used to generate byte encodings.

- - ### Method Summary

    All Methods Static Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods Concrete Methods
    Modifier and Type | Method and Description
    --- | ---
    `void` | `encodeTo(java.io.OutputStream output)`
    `void` | `encodeTo(java.io.OutputStream output, java.lang.String encoding)`
    `boolean` | `equals(ASN1Encodable other)`
    `boolean` | `equals(ASN1Primitive other)`
    `boolean` | `equals(java.lang.Object o)`
    `static ASN1Primitive` | `fromByteArray(byte[] data)` Parse an ASN.1 (BER) encoding from a byte array.
    `static ASN1Primitive` | `fromStream(java.io.InputStream input)` Parse the first ASN.1 (BER) encoding from an `InputStream`.The stream is not closed by this method and may contain further data beyond the first ASN.1 encoding.
    `abstract int` | `hashCode()`
    `ASN1Primitive` | `toASN1Primitive()` Method providing a primitive representation of this object suitable for encoding.

    - ### Methods inherited from class org.bouncycastle.asn1.ASN1Object

      `getEncoded, getEncoded, hasEncodedTagValue`

    - ### Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

      `clone, finalize, getClass, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait`

- - ### Method Detail

    - #### encodeTo

          public void encodeTo(java.io.OutputStream output)
                        throws java.io.IOException

      Overrides:
        `encodeTo` in class `ASN1Object`
      Throws:
        `java.io.IOException`

    - #### encodeTo

          public void encodeTo(java.io.OutputStream output,
                               java.lang.String encoding)
                        throws java.io.IOException

      Overrides:
        `encodeTo` in class `ASN1Object`
      Throws:
        `java.io.IOException`

    - #### fromByteArray

          public static ASN1Primitive fromByteArray(byte[] data)
                                             throws java.io.IOException

      Parse an ASN.1 (BER) encoding from a byte array. Checks there are no extra bytes following the encoding.
      Parameters:
        `data` - the byte array to parse.
      Returns:
        the base ASN.1 object parsed from the byte array.
      Throws:
        `java.io.IOException` - if there is a problem parsing the data, or parsing did not exhaust the available data.

    - #### fromStream

          public static ASN1Primitive fromStream(java.io.InputStream input)
                                          throws java.io.IOException

      Parse the first ASN.1 (BER) encoding from an `InputStream`.The stream is not closed by this method and may contain further data beyond the first ASN.1 encoding.
      Parameters:
        `data` - the stream to parse.
      Returns:
        the base ASN.1 object parsed from the stream.
      Throws:
        `java.io.IOException` - if there is a problem parsing the data.

    - #### equals

          public final boolean equals(java.lang.Object o)

      Overrides:
        `equals` in class `ASN1Object`

    - #### equals

          public final boolean equals(ASN1Encodable other)

    - #### equals

          public final boolean equals(ASN1Primitive other)

    - #### toASN1Primitive

          public final ASN1Primitive toASN1Primitive()

      Description copied from class: `ASN1Object`
      Method providing a primitive representation of this object suitable for encoding.
      Specified by:
        `toASN1Primitive` in interface `ASN1Encodable`
      Specified by:
        `toASN1Primitive` in class `ASN1Object`
      Returns:
        a primitive representation of this object.

    - #### hashCode

          public abstract int hashCode()

      Overrides:
        `hashCode` in class `ASN1Object`