Module java.base
Package java.security.acl

## Interface Group

- All Superinterfaces:
    `Principal`

      @Deprecated(since="9",
                  forRemoval=true)
      public interface Group
      extends Principal

  Deprecated, for removal: This API element is subject to removal in a future version.
  This class is deprecated and subject to removal in a future version of Java SE. It has been replaced by `java.security.Policy` and related classes since 1.2.
  This interface is used to represent a group of principals. (A principal represents an entity such as an individual user or a company).

  Note that Group extends Principal. Thus, either a Principal or a Group can be passed as an argument to methods containing a Principal parameter. For example, you can add either a Principal or a Group to a Group object by calling the object's `addMember` method, passing it the Principal or Group.

  Since:
    1.1

- - ### Method Summary

    Modifier and Type | Method | Description
    --- | --- | ---
    `boolean` | `addMember​(Principal user)` | Deprecated, for removal: This API element is subject to removal in a future version. Adds the specified member to the group.
    `boolean` | `isMember​(Principal member)` | Deprecated, for removal: This API element is subject to removal in a future version. Returns true if the passed principal is a member of the group.
    `Enumeration<? extends Principal>` | `members()` | Deprecated, for removal: This API element is subject to removal in a future version. Returns an enumeration of the members in the group.
    `boolean` | `removeMember​(Principal user)` | Deprecated, for removal: This API element is subject to removal in a future version. Removes the specified member from the group.

    - ### Methods declared in interface java.security.Principal

      `equals, getName, hashCode, implies, toString`

- - ### Method Detail

    - #### addMember

          boolean addMember​(Principal user)

      Deprecated, for removal: This API element is subject to removal in a future version.
      Adds the specified member to the group.
      Parameters:
        `user` - the principal to add to this group.
      Returns:
        true if the member was successfully added, false if the principal was already a member.

    - #### removeMember

          boolean removeMember​(Principal user)

      Deprecated, for removal: This API element is subject to removal in a future version.
      Removes the specified member from the group.
      Parameters:
        `user` - the principal to remove from this group.
      Returns:
        true if the principal was removed, or false if the principal was not a member.

    - #### isMember

          boolean isMember​(Principal member)

      Deprecated, for removal: This API element is subject to removal in a future version.
      Returns true if the passed principal is a member of the group. This method does a recursive search, so if a principal belongs to a group which is a member of this group, true is returned.
      Parameters:
        `member` - the principal whose membership is to be checked.
      Returns:
        true if the principal is a member of this group, false otherwise.

    - #### members

          Enumeration<? extends Principal> members()

      Deprecated, for removal: This API element is subject to removal in a future version.
      Returns an enumeration of the members in the group. The returned objects can be instances of either Principal or Group (which is a subclass of Principal).
      Returns:
        an enumeration of the group members.