Save This Page
Home » openjdk-7 » javax » naming » directory » [javadoc | source]
javax.naming.directory
public interface: Attribute [javadoc | source]

All Implemented Interfaces:
    Cloneable, Serializable

All Known Implementing Classes:
    BasicAttribute

This interface represents an attribute associated with a named object.

In a directory, named objects can have associated with them attributes. The Attribute interface represents an attribute associated with a named object. An attribute contains 0 or more, possibly null, values. The attribute values can be ordered or unordered (see isOrdered()). If the values are unordered, no duplicates are allowed. If the values are ordered, duplicates are allowed.

The content and representation of an attribute and its values is defined by the attribute's schema. The schema contains information about the attribute's syntax and other properties about the attribute. See getAttributeDefinition() and getAttributeSyntaxDefinition() for details regarding how to get schema information about an attribute if the underlying directory service supports schemas.

Equality of two attributes is determined by the implementation class. A simple implementation can use Object.equals() to determine equality of attribute values, while a more sophisticated implementation might make use of schema information to determine equality. Similarly, one implementation might provide a static storage structure which simply returns the values passed to its constructor, while another implementation might define get() and getAll(). to get the values dynamically from the directory.

Note that updates to Attribute (such as adding or removing a value) do not affect the corresponding representation of the attribute in the directory. Updates to the directory can only be effected using operations in the DirContext interface.

Field Summary
static final  long serialVersionUID    Use serialVersionUID from JNDI 1.1.1 for interoperability. 
Method from javax.naming.directory.Attribute Summary:
add,   add,   clear,   clone,   contains,   get,   get,   getAll,   getAttributeDefinition,   getAttributeSyntaxDefinition,   getID,   isOrdered,   remove,   remove,   set,   size
Method from javax.naming.directory.Attribute Detail:
 public boolean add(Object attrVal)
    Adds a new value to the attribute.
If the attribute values are unordered and
attrVal is already in the attribute, this method does nothing.
If the attribute values are ordered, attrVal is added to the end of
the list of attribute values.

    
Equality is determined by the implementation, which may use
Object.equals() or schema information to determine equality.
 public  void add(int ix,
    Object attrVal)
    Adds an attribute value to the ordered list of attribute values.
This method adds attrVal to the list of attribute values at
index ix.
Values located at indices at or greater than ix are
shifted down towards the end of the list (and their indices incremented
by one).
If the attribute values are unordered and already have attrVal,
IllegalStateException is thrown.
 public  void clear()
    Removes all values from this attribute.
 public Object clone()
    Makes a copy of the attribute.
The copy contains the same attribute values as the original attribute:
the attribute values are not themselves cloned.
Changes to the copy will not affect the original and vice versa.
 public boolean contains(Object attrVal)
    Determines whether a value is in the attribute.
Equality is determined by the implementation, which may use
Object.equals() or schema information to determine equality.
 public Object get() throws NamingException
    Retrieves one of this attribute's values.
If the attribute has more than one value and is unordered, any one of
the values is returned.
If the attribute has more than one value and is ordered, the
first value is returned.
 public Object get(int ix) throws NamingException
    Retrieves the attribute value from the ordered list of attribute values.
This method returns the value at the ix index of the list of
attribute values.
If the attribute values are unordered,
this method returns the value that happens to be at that index.
 public NamingEnumeration getAll() throws NamingException
    Retrieves an enumeration of the attribute's values.
The behaviour of this enumeration is unspecified
if the attribute's values are added, changed,
or removed while the enumeration is in progress.
If the attribute values are ordered, the enumeration's items
will be ordered.
 public DirContext getAttributeDefinition() throws NamingException
    Retrieves the attribute's schema definition.
An attribute's schema definition contains information
such as whether the attribute is multivalued or single-valued,
the matching rules to use when comparing the attribute's values.

The information that you can retrieve from an attribute definition
is directory-dependent.


    
If an implementation does not support schemas, it should throw
OperationNotSupportedException. If an implementation does support
schemas, it should define this method to return the appropriate
information.
 public DirContext getAttributeSyntaxDefinition() throws NamingException
    Retrieves the syntax definition associated with the attribute.
An attribute's syntax definition specifies the format
of the attribute's value(s). Note that this is different from
the attribute value's representation as a Java object. Syntax
definition refers to the directory's notion of syntax.

    
For example, even though a value might be
a Java String object, its directory syntax might be "Printable String"
or "Telephone Number". Or a value might be a byte array, and its
directory syntax is "JPEG" or "Certificate".
For example, if this attribute's syntax is "JPEG",
this method would return the syntax definition for "JPEG".

    
The information that you can retrieve from a syntax definition
is directory-dependent.

    
If an implementation does not support schemas, it should throw
OperationNotSupportedException. If an implementation does support
schemas, it should define this method to return the appropriate
information.
 public String getID()
    Retrieves the id of this attribute.
 public boolean isOrdered()
    Determines whether this attribute's values are ordered.
If an attribute's values are ordered, duplicate values are allowed.
If an attribute's values are unordered, they are presented
in any order and there are no duplicate values.
 public boolean remove(Object attrval)
    Removes a specified value from the attribute.
If attrval is not in the attribute, this method does nothing.
If the attribute values are ordered, the first occurrence of
attrVal is removed and attribute values at indices greater
than the removed
value are shifted up towards the head of the list (and their indices
decremented by one).

    
Equality is determined by the implementation, which may use
Object.equals() or schema information to determine equality.
 public Object remove(int ix)
    Removes an attribute value from the ordered list of attribute values.
This method removes the value at the ix index of the list of
attribute values.
If the attribute values are unordered,
this method removes the value that happens to be at that index.
Values located at indices greater than ix are shifted up towards
the front of the list (and their indices decremented by one).
 public Object set(int ix,
    Object attrVal)
    Sets an attribute value in the ordered list of attribute values.
This method sets the value at the ix index of the list of
attribute values to be attrVal. The old value is removed.
If the attribute values are unordered,
this method sets the value that happens to be at that index
to attrVal, unless attrVal is already one of the values.
In that case, IllegalStateException is thrown.
 public int size()
    Retrieves the number of values in this attribute.