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Interface javax.naming.directory.Attribute
- public interface Attribute
- extends Cloneable, Serializable
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 values.
The values are unordered, with no duplicates, and can be null.
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)
does 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.
- See Also:
- BasicAttribute
-
add(Object)
- Adds a new value to the attribute.
-
clear()
- Removes all values from this attribute.
-
clone()
- Makes a copy of the attribute.
-
contains(Object)
- Determines whether a value is in the attribute.
-
get()
- Retrieves one of this attribute's values.
-
getAll()
- Retrieves an enumeration of the attribute's values.
-
getAttributeDefinition()
- Retrieves the attribute's schema definition.
-
getAttributeSyntaxDefinition()
- Retrieves the syntax definition associated with the attribute.
-
getID()
- Retrieves the id of this attribute.
-
remove(Object)
- Removes a specified value from the attribute.
-
size()
-
Retrieves the number of values in this attribute.
getAll
public abstract NamingEnumeration getAll() throws NamingException
- Retrieves an enumeration of the attribute's values.
The behaviour of this enumeration is unspecified
if the the attribute's values are added, changed,
or removed while the enumeration is in progress.
- Returns:
- A non-null enumeration of the attribute's values.
Each element of the enumeration is a possibly null Object. The object's
class is the class of the attribute value. The element is null
if the attribute's value is null.
If the attribute has zero values, an empty enumeration
is returned.
- Throws: NamingException
- If a naming exception was encountered while retrieving
the values.
get
public abstract Object get() throws NamingException
- Retrieves one of this attribute's values.
If the attribute has more than one value, any of
the values are returned.
- Returns:
- A possibly null object representing one of
the attribute's value. It is null if the attribute's value
is null.
- Throws: NamingException
- If a naming exception was encountered while retrieving
the value.
- Throws: NoSuchElementException
- If this attribute has no values.
size
public abstract int size()
- Retrieves the number of values in this attribute.
- Returns:
- The nonnegative number of values in this attribute.
getID
public abstract String getID()
- Retrieves the id of this attribute.
- Returns:
- The id of this attribute. It cannot be null.
contains
public abstract 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.
- Parameters:
- attrVal - The possibly null value to check. If null, check
whether the attribute has an attribute value whose value is null.
- Returns:
- true if attrVal is one of this attribute's values; false otherwise.
- See Also:
- equals, equals
add
public abstract boolean add(Object attrVal)
- Adds a new value to the attribute. If attrVal is already in the
attribute, this method does nothing.
Equality is determined by the implementation, which may use
Object.equals() or schema information to determine equality.
- Parameters:
- attrVal - The new possibly null value to add. If null, null
is added as an attribute value.
- Returns:
- true If this attribute did not already have attrVal.
remove
public abstract boolean remove(Object attrval)
- Removes a specified value from the attribute.
If attrval is not in the attribute, this method does nothing.
Equality is determined by the implementation, which may use
Object.equals() or schema information to determine equality.
- Parameters:
- attrVal - The possibly null value to remove from this attribute.
If null, remove the attribute value that is null.
- Returns:
- true if the value was removed; false otherwise.
clear
public abstract void clear()
- Removes all values from this attribute.
getAttributeSyntaxDefinition
public abstract 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.
- Returns:
- The attribute's syntax definition. Null if the implementation
supports schemas but this particular attribute does not have
any schema information.
- Throws: OperationNotSupportedException
- If getting the schema
is not supported.
- Throws: NamingException
- If a naming exception occurs while getting
the schema.
getAttributeDefinition
public abstract 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 attribiute'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.
- Returns:
- This attribute's schema definition. Null if the implementation
supports schemas but this particular attribute does not have
any schema information.
- Throws: OperationNotSupportedException
- If getting the schema
is not supported.
- Throws: NamingException
- If a naming exception occurs while getting
the schema.
clone
public abstract 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.
- Returns:
- A non-null copy of the attribute.
- Overrides:
- clone in class Object
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