Class ChoiceFormat

public class ChoiceFormat
extends NumberFormat

A ChoiceFormat allows you to attach a format to a range of numbers. It is generally used in a MessageFormat for handling plurals. The choice is specified with an ascending list of doubles, where each item specifies a half-open interval up to the next item:

X matches j if and only if limit[j] ≤ X < limit[j+1]

If there is no match, then either the first or last index is used, depending on whether the number (X) is too low or too high. If the limit array is not in ascending order, the results of formatting will be incorrect. ChoiceFormat also accepts \u221E as equivalent to infinity(INF).

Note: ChoiceFormat differs from the other Format classes in that you create a ChoiceFormat object with a constructor (not with a getInstance style factory method). The factory methods aren't necessary because ChoiceFormat doesn't require any complex setup for a given locale. In fact, ChoiceFormat doesn't implement any locale specific behavior.

When creating a ChoiceFormat, you must specify an array of formats and an array of limits. The length of these arrays must be the same. For example,

• limits = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7}
  formats = {"Sun","Mon","Tue","Wed","Thur","Fri","Sat"}
• limits = {0, 1, ChoiceFormat.nextDouble(1)}
  formats = {"no files", "one file", "many files"}
  (nextDouble can be used to get the next higher double, to make the half-open interval.)

Here is a simple example that shows formatting and parsing:

double[] limits = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7};
String[] dayOfWeekNames = {"Sun","Mon","Tue","Wed","Thur","Fri","Sat"};
ChoiceFormat form = new ChoiceFormat(limits, dayOfWeekNames);
ParsePosition status = new ParsePosition(0);
for (double i = 0.0; i <= 8.0; ++i) {
    status.setIndex(0);
    System.out.println(i + " -> " + form.format(i) + " -> "
                             + form.parse(form.format(i),status));
}

Here is a more complex example, with a pattern format:

double[] filelimits = {0,1,2};
String[] filepart = {"are no files","is one file","are {2} files"};
ChoiceFormat fileform = new ChoiceFormat(filelimits, filepart);
Format[] testFormats = {fileform, null, NumberFormat.getInstance()};
MessageFormat pattform = new MessageFormat("There {0} on {1}");
pattform.setFormats(testFormats);
Object[] testArgs = {null, "ADisk", null};
for (int i = 0; i < 4; ++i) {
    testArgs[0] = new Integer(i);
    testArgs[2] = testArgs[0];
    System.out.println(pattform.format(testArgs));
}

Specifying a pattern for ChoiceFormat objects is fairly straightforward. For example:

ChoiceFormat fmt = new ChoiceFormat(
     "-1#is negative| 0#is zero or fraction | 1#is one |1.0<is 1+ |2#is two |2<is more than 2.");
System.out.println("Formatter Pattern : " + fmt.toPattern());

System.out.println("Format with -INF : " + fmt.format(Double.NEGATIVE_INFINITY));
System.out.println("Format with -1.0 : " + fmt.format(-1.0));
System.out.println("Format with 0 : " + fmt.format(0));
System.out.println("Format with 0.9 : " + fmt.format(0.9));
System.out.println("Format with 1.0 : " + fmt.format(1));
System.out.println("Format with 1.5 : " + fmt.format(1.5));
System.out.println("Format with 2 : " + fmt.format(2));
System.out.println("Format with 2.1 : " + fmt.format(2.1));
System.out.println("Format with NaN : " + fmt.format(Double.NaN));
System.out.println("Format with +INF : " + fmt.format(Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY));

And the output result would be like the following:

Format with -INF : is negative
Format with -1.0 : is negative
Format with 0 : is zero or fraction
Format with 0.9 : is zero or fraction
Format with 1.0 : is one
Format with 1.5 : is 1+
Format with 2 : is two
Format with 2.1 : is more than 2.
Format with NaN : is negative
Format with +INF : is more than 2.

Synchronization

Choice formats are not synchronized. It is recommended to create separate format instances for each thread. If multiple threads access a format concurrently, it must be synchronized externally.

Constructors

ChoiceFormat

public ChoiceFormat(String newPattern)

Constructs with limits and corresponding formats based on the pattern.

Parameters:

newPattern - the new pattern string

See Also:

applyPattern(java.lang.String)

ChoiceFormat

public ChoiceFormat(double[] limits,
                    String[] formats)

Constructs with the limits and the corresponding formats.

Parameters:

limits - limits in ascending order

formats - corresponding format strings

See Also:

setChoices(double[], java.lang.String[])

Methods

applyPattern

public void applyPattern(String newPattern)

Sets the pattern.

Parameters:

newPattern - See the class description.

toPattern

public String toPattern()

Gets the pattern.

Returns:

the pattern string

setChoices

public void setChoices(double[] limits,
                       String[] formats)

Set the choices to be used in formatting.

Parameters:

limits - contains the top value that you want parsed with that format, and should be in ascending sorted order. When formatting X, the choice will be the i, where limit[i] ≤ X < limit[i+1]. If the limit array is not in ascending order, the results of formatting will be incorrect.

formats - are the formats you want to use for each limit. They can be either Format objects or Strings. When formatting with object Y, if the object is a NumberFormat, then ((NumberFormat) Y).format(X) is called. Otherwise Y.toString() is called.

getLimits

public double[] getLimits()

Get the limits passed in the constructor.

Returns:

the limits.

getFormats

public Object[] getFormats()

Get the formats passed in the constructor.

Returns:

the formats.

format

public StringBuffer format(long number,
                           StringBuffer toAppendTo,
                           FieldPosition status)

Specialization of format. This method really calls format(double, StringBuffer, FieldPosition) thus the range of longs that are supported is only equal to the range that can be stored by double. This will never be a practical limitation.

Specified by:

format in class NumberFormat

Parameters:

number - the long number to format

toAppendTo - the StringBuffer to which the formatted text is to be appended

status - the field position

Returns:

the formatted StringBuffer

See Also:

Format.format(java.lang.Object)

format

public StringBuffer format(double number,
                           StringBuffer toAppendTo,
                           FieldPosition status)

Returns pattern with formatted double.

Specified by:

format in class NumberFormat

Parameters:

number - number to be formatted and substituted.

toAppendTo - where text is appended.

status - ignore no useful status is returned.

Returns:

the formatted StringBuffer

See Also:

Format.format(java.lang.Object)

parse

public Number parse(String text,
                    ParsePosition status)

Parses a Number from the input text.

Specified by:

parse in class NumberFormat

Parameters:

text - the source text.

status - an input-output parameter. On input, the status.index field indicates the first character of the source text that should be parsed. On exit, if no error occurred, status.index is set to the first unparsed character in the source text. On exit, if an error did occur, status.index is unchanged and status.errorIndex is set to the first index of the character that caused the parse to fail.

Returns:

A Number representing the value of the number parsed.

See Also:

NumberFormat.isParseIntegerOnly(), Format.parseObject(java.lang.String, java.text.ParsePosition)

nextDouble

public static final double nextDouble(double d)

Parameters:

d - the reference value

Returns:

the least double value greather than d

See Also:

previousDouble(double)

previousDouble

public static final double previousDouble(double d)

Finds the greatest double less than d. If NaN, returns same value.

Parameters:

d - the reference value

Returns:

the greatest double value less than d

See Also:

nextDouble(double)

clone

public Object clone()

Overrides Cloneable

Overrides:

clone in class NumberFormat

Returns:

a clone of this instance.

See Also:

Cloneable

hashCode

public int hashCode()

Generates a hash code for the message format object.

Overrides:

hashCode in class NumberFormat

Returns:

a hash code value for this object.

See Also:

Object.equals(java.lang.Object), System.identityHashCode(java.lang.Object)

equals

public boolean equals(Object obj)

Equality comparision between two

Overrides:

equals in class NumberFormat

Parameters:

obj - the reference object with which to compare.

Returns:

true if this object is the same as the obj argument; false otherwise.

See Also:

Object.hashCode(), HashMap

nextDouble

public static double nextDouble(double d,
                                boolean positive)

Finds the least double greater than d (if positive is true), or the greatest double less than d (if positive is false). If NaN, returns same value. Does not affect floating-point flags, provided these member functions do not: Double.longBitsToDouble(long) Double.doubleToLongBits(double) Double.isNaN(double)

Parameters:

d - the reference value

positive - true if the least double is desired; false otherwise

Returns:

the least or greater double value