Interface Elements


public interface Elements

Utility methods for operating on program elements.

Compatibility Note: Methods may be added to this interface in future releases of the platform.

Since:
1.6
See Also:
ProcessingEnvironment.getElementUtils()

Methods

Modifier and Type Method and Description
List<? extends AnnotationMirror> getAllAnnotationMirrors(Element e)

Returns all annotations present on an element, whether directly present or present via inheritance.
List<? extends Element> getAllMembers(TypeElement type)

Returns all members of a type element, whether inherited or declared directly.
Name getBinaryName(TypeElement type)

Returns the binary name of a type element.
String getConstantExpression(Object value)

Returns the text of a constant expression representing a primitive value or a string.
String getDocComment(Element e)

Returns the text of the documentation ("Javadoc") comment of an element.
Map<? extends ExecutableElement,? extends AnnotationValue> getElementValuesWithDefaults(AnnotationMirror a)

Returns the values of an annotation's elements, including defaults.
Name getName(CharSequence cs)

Return a name with the same sequence of characters as the argument.
PackageElement getPackageElement(CharSequence name)

Returns a package given its fully qualified name.
PackageElement getPackageOf(Element type)

Returns the package of an element.
TypeElement getTypeElement(CharSequence name)

Returns a type element given its canonical name.
boolean hides(Element hider, Element hidden)

Tests whether one type, method, or field hides another.
boolean isDeprecated(Element e)

Returns true if the element is deprecated, false otherwise.
boolean isFunctionalInterface(TypeElement type)

Returns true if the type element is a functional interface, false otherwise.
boolean overrides(ExecutableElement overrider, ExecutableElement overridden, TypeElement type)

Tests whether one method, as a member of a given type, overrides another method.
void printElements(Writer w, Element... elements)

Prints a representation of the elements to the given writer in the specified order.

Methods

getPackageElement

PackageElement getPackageElement(CharSequence name)

Returns a package given its fully qualified name.

Parameters:
name - fully qualified package name, or "" for an unnamed package
Returns:
the named package, or null if it cannot be found

getTypeElement

TypeElement getTypeElement(CharSequence name)

Returns a type element given its canonical name.

Parameters:
name - the canonical name
Returns:
the named type element, or null if it cannot be found

getElementValuesWithDefaults

Map<? extends ExecutableElement,? extends AnnotationValue> getElementValuesWithDefaults(AnnotationMirror a)

Returns the values of an annotation's elements, including defaults.

Parameters:
a - annotation to examine
Returns:
the values of the annotation's elements, including defaults
See Also:
AnnotationMirror.getElementValues()

getDocComment

String getDocComment(Element e)

Returns the text of the documentation ("Javadoc") comment of an element.

A documentation comment of an element is a comment that begins with "/**" , ends with a separate "*/", and immediately precedes the element, ignoring white space. Therefore, a documentation comment contains at least three"*" characters. The text returned for the documentation comment is a processed form of the comment as it appears in source code. The leading "/**" and trailing "*/" are removed. For lines of the comment starting after the initial "/**", leading white space characters are discarded as are any consecutive "*" characters appearing after the white space or starting the line. The processed lines are then concatenated together (including line terminators) and returned.

Parameters:
e - the element being examined
Returns:
the documentation comment of the element, or null if there is none

isDeprecated

boolean isDeprecated(Element e)

Returns true if the element is deprecated, false otherwise.

Parameters:
e - the element being examined
Returns:
true if the element is deprecated, false otherwise

getBinaryName

Name getBinaryName(TypeElement type)

Returns the binary name of a type element.

Parameters:
type - the type element being examined
Returns:
the binary name
See Also:
TypeElement.getQualifiedName()

getPackageOf

PackageElement getPackageOf(Element type)

Returns the package of an element. The package of a package is itself.

Parameters:
type - the element being examined
Returns:
the package of an element

getAllMembers

List<? extends Element> getAllMembers(TypeElement type)

Returns all members of a type element, whether inherited or declared directly. For a class the result also includes its constructors, but not local or anonymous classes.

Note that elements of certain kinds can be isolated using methods in ElementFilter.

Parameters:
type - the type being examined
Returns:
all members of the type
See Also:
Element.getEnclosedElements()

getAllAnnotationMirrors

List<? extends AnnotationMirror> getAllAnnotationMirrors(Element e)

Returns all annotations present on an element, whether directly present or present via inheritance.

Parameters:
e - the element being examined
Returns:
all annotations of the element
See Also:
Element.getAnnotationMirrors(), AnnotatedConstruct

hides

boolean hides(Element hider,
              Element hidden)

Tests whether one type, method, or field hides another.

Parameters:
hider - the first element
hidden - the second element
Returns:
true if and only if the first element hides the second

overrides

boolean overrides(ExecutableElement overrider,
                  ExecutableElement overridden,
                  TypeElement type)

Tests whether one method, as a member of a given type, overrides another method. When a non-abstract method overrides an abstract one, the former is also said to implement the latter.

In the simplest and most typical usage, the value of the type parameter will simply be the class or interface directly enclosing overrider (the possibly-overriding method). For example, suppose m1 represents the method String.hashCode and m2 represents Object.hashCode. We can then ask whether m1 overrides m2 within the class String (it does): 

assert elements.overrides(m1, m2, elements.getTypeElement("java.lang.String"));
A more interesting case can be illustrated by the following example in which a method in type A does not override a like-named method in type B: 
class A { public void m() {} } interface B { void m(); } ... m1 = ...; // A.m m2 = ...; // B.m assert ! elements.overrides(m1, m2, elements.getTypeElement("A"));
When viewed as a member of a third type C, however, the method in A does override the one in B: 
class C extends A implements B {} ... assert elements.overrides(m1, m2, elements.getTypeElement("C"));
Parameters:
overrider - the first method, possible overrider
overridden - the second method, possibly being overridden
type - the type of which the first method is a member
Returns:
true if and only if the first method overrides the second

getConstantExpression

String getConstantExpression(Object value)

Returns the text of a constant expression representing a primitive value or a string. The text returned is in a form suitable for representing the value in source code.

Parameters:
value - a primitive value or string
Returns:
the text of a constant expression
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - if the argument is not a primitive value or string
See Also:
VariableElement.getConstantValue()

printElements

void printElements(Writer w,
                   Element... elements)

Prints a representation of the elements to the given writer in the specified order. The main purpose of this method is for diagnostics. The exact format of the output is not specified and is subject to change.

Parameters:
w - the writer to print the output to
elements - the elements to print

getName

Name getName(CharSequence cs)

Return a name with the same sequence of characters as the argument.

Parameters:
cs - the character sequence to return as a name
Returns:
a name with the same sequence of characters as the argument

isFunctionalInterface

boolean isFunctionalInterface(TypeElement type)

Returns true if the type element is a functional interface, false otherwise.

Parameters:
type - the type element being examined
Returns:
true if the element is a functional interface, false otherwise
Since:
1.8

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Documentation extracted from Debian's OpenJDK Development Kit package.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 2, with the Classpath Exception.
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https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/javax/lang/model/util/Elements.html