JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.4.1

javax.naming
Interface Name

All Superinterfaces:
Cloneable, Serializable
All Known Implementing Classes:
CompositeName, CompoundName

public interface Name
extends Cloneable, Serializable

The Name interface represents a generic name -- an ordered sequence of components. It can be a composite name (names that span multiple namespaces), or a compound name (names that are used within individual hierarchical naming systems).

There can be different implementations of Name; for example, composite names, URLs, or namespace-specific compound names.

The components of a name are numbered. The indexes of a name with N components range from 0 up to, but not including, N. This range may be written as [0,N). The most significant component is at index 0. An empty name has no components.

None of the methods in this interface accept null as a valid value for a parameter that is a name or a name component. Likewise, methods that return a name or name component never return null.

An instance of a Name may not be synchronized against concurrent multithreaded access if that access is not read-only.

Since:
1.3

Method Summary
 Name add(int posn, String comp)
          Adds a single component at a specified position within this name.
 Name add(String comp)
          Adds a single component to the end of this name.
 Name addAll(int posn, Name n)
          Adds the components of a name -- in order -- at a specified position within this name.
 Name addAll(Name suffix)
          Adds the components of a name -- in order -- to the end of this name.
 Object clone()
          Generates a new copy of this name.
 int compareTo(Object obj)
          Compares this name with another name for order.
 boolean endsWith(Name n)
          Determines whether this name ends with a specified suffix.
 String get(int posn)
          Retrieves a component of this name.
 Enumeration getAll()
          Retrieves the components of this name as an enumeration of strings.
 Name getPrefix(int posn)
          Creates a name whose components consist of a prefix of the components of this name.
 Name getSuffix(int posn)
          Creates a name whose components consist of a suffix of the components in this name.
 boolean isEmpty()
          Determines whether this name is empty.
 Object remove(int posn)
          Removes a component from this name.
 int size()
          Returns the number of components in this name.
 boolean startsWith(Name n)
          Determines whether this name starts with a specified prefix.
 

Method Detail

clone

public Object clone()
Generates a new copy of this name. Subsequent changes to the components of this name will not affect the new copy, and vice versa.

Returns:
a copy of this name
See Also:
Object.clone()

compareTo

public int compareTo(Object obj)
Compares this name with another name for order. Returns a negative integer, zero, or a positive integer as this name is less than, equal to, or greater than the given name.

As with Object.equals(), the notion of ordering for names depends on the class that implements this interface. For example, the ordering may be based on lexicographical ordering of the name components. Specific attributes of the name, such as how it treats case, may affect the ordering. In general, two names of different classes may not be compared.

Parameters:
obj - the non-null object to compare against.
Returns:
a negative integer, zero, or a positive integer as this name is less than, equal to, or greater than the given name
Throws:
ClassCastException - if obj is not a Name of a type that may be compared with this name
See Also:
Comparable.compareTo(Object)

size

public int size()
Returns the number of components in this name.

Returns:
the number of components in this name

isEmpty

public boolean isEmpty()
Determines whether this name is empty. An empty name is one with zero components.

Returns:
true if this name is empty, false otherwise

getAll

public Enumeration getAll()
Retrieves the components of this name as an enumeration of strings. The effect on the enumeration of updates to this name is undefined. If the name has zero components, an empty (non-null) enumeration is returned.

Returns:
an enumeration of the components of this name, each a string

get

public String get(int posn)
Retrieves a component of this name.

Parameters:
posn - the 0-based index of the component to retrieve. Must be in the range [0,size()).
Returns:
the component at index posn
Throws:
ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException - if posn is outside the specified range

getPrefix

public Name getPrefix(int posn)
Creates a name whose components consist of a prefix of the components of this name. Subsequent changes to this name will not affect the name that is returned and vice versa.

Parameters:
posn - the 0-based index of the component at which to stop. Must be in the range [0,size()].
Returns:
a name consisting of the components at indexes in the range [0,posn).
Throws:
ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException - if posn is outside the specified range

getSuffix

public Name getSuffix(int posn)
Creates a name whose components consist of a suffix of the components in this name. Subsequent changes to this name do not affect the name that is returned and vice versa.

Parameters:
posn - the 0-based index of the component at which to start. Must be in the range [0,size()].
Returns:
a name consisting of the components at indexes in the range [posn,size()). If posn is equal to size(), an empty name is returned.
Throws:
ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException - if posn is outside the specified range

startsWith

public boolean startsWith(Name n)
Determines whether this name starts with a specified prefix. A name n is a prefix if it is equal to getPrefix(n.size()).

Parameters:
n - the name to check
Returns:
true if n is a prefix of this name, false otherwise

endsWith

public boolean endsWith(Name n)
Determines whether this name ends with a specified suffix. A name n is a suffix if it is equal to getSuffix(size()-n.size()).

Parameters:
n - the name to check
Returns:
true if n is a suffix of this name, false otherwise

addAll

public Name addAll(Name suffix)
            throws InvalidNameException
Adds the components of a name -- in order -- to the end of this name.

Parameters:
suffix - the components to add
Returns:
the updated name (not a new one)
Throws:
InvalidNameException - if suffix is not a valid name, or if the addition of the components would violate the syntax rules of this name

addAll

public Name addAll(int posn,
                   Name n)
            throws InvalidNameException
Adds the components of a name -- in order -- at a specified position within this name. Components of this name at or after the index of the first new component are shifted up (away from 0) to accommodate the new components.

Parameters:
n - the components to add
posn - the index in this name at which to add the new components. Must be in the range [0,size()].
Returns:
the updated name (not a new one)
Throws:
ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException - if posn is outside the specified range
InvalidNameException - if n is not a valid name, or if the addition of the components would violate the syntax rules of this name

add

public Name add(String comp)
         throws InvalidNameException
Adds a single component to the end of this name.

Parameters:
comp - the component to add
Returns:
the updated name (not a new one)
Throws:
InvalidNameException - if adding comp would violate the syntax rules of this name

add

public Name add(int posn,
                String comp)
         throws InvalidNameException
Adds a single component at a specified position within this name. Components of this name at or after the index of the new component are shifted up by one (away from index 0) to accommodate the new component.

Parameters:
comp - the component to add
posn - the index at which to add the new component. Must be in the range [0,size()].
Returns:
the updated name (not a new one)
Throws:
ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException - if posn is outside the specified range
InvalidNameException - if adding comp would violate the syntax rules of this name

remove

public Object remove(int posn)
              throws InvalidNameException
Removes a component from this name. The component of this name at the specified position is removed. Components with indexes greater than this position are shifted down (toward index 0) by one.

Parameters:
posn - the index of the component to remove. Must be in the range [0,size()).
Returns:
the component removed (a String)
Throws:
ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException - if posn is outside the specified range
InvalidNameException - if deleting the component would violate the syntax rules of the name

JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.4.1

Submit a bug or feature
For further API reference and developer documentation, see Java 2 SDK SE Developer Documentation. That documentation contains more detailed, developer-targeted descriptions, with conceptual overviews, definitions of terms, workarounds, and working code examples.

Copyright 2002 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Use is subject to license terms.