Interface Pointer

All Superinterfaces:
Cloneable, Comparable, Serializable
All Known Implementing Classes:
BasicTypeConverter.ValuePointer, BeanPointer, BeanPropertyPointer, CollectionPointer, ContainerPointer, DOMAttributePointer, DOMNodePointer, DynaBeanPointer, DynaBeanPropertyPointer, DynamicPointer, DynamicPropertyPointer, JDOMAttributePointer, JDOMNamespacePointer, JDOMNodePointer, LangAttributePointer, NamespacePointer, NodePointer, NullElementPointer, NullPointer, NullPropertyPointer, PropertyOwnerPointer, PropertyPointer, VariablePointer

public interface Pointer extends Cloneable, Comparable, Serializable
Pointers represent locations of objects and their properties in Java object graphs. JXPathContext has methods (getPointer() and (iteratePointers(), which, given an XPath, produce Pointers for the objects or properties described the the path. For example, ctx.getPointer ("foo/bar") will produce a Pointer that can get and set the property "bar" of the object which is the value of the property "foo" of the root object. The value of ctx.getPointer("aMap/aKey[3]") will be a pointer to the 3'rd element of the array, which is the value for the key "aKey" of the map, which is the value of the property "aMap" of the root object.
Version:
$Revision: 652845 $ $Date: 2008-05-02 12:46:46 -0500 (Fri, 02 May 2008) $
  • Method Summary

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    Returns a string that is a proper "canonical" XPath that corresponds to this pointer.
    Pointers are cloneable.
    Returns the raw value of the object, property or collection element this pointer represents.
    Returns the node this pointer is based on.
    Returns the value of the object, property or collection element this pointer represents.
    void
    Modifies the value of the object, property or collection element this pointer represents.

    Methods inherited from interface java.lang.Comparable

    compareTo
  • Method Details

    • getValue

      Object getValue()
      Returns the value of the object, property or collection element this pointer represents. May convert the value to one of the canonical InfoSet types: String, Number, Boolean, Set. For example, in the case of an XML element, getValue() will return the text contained by the element rather than the element itself.
      Returns:
      Object value
    • getNode

      Object getNode()
      Returns the raw value of the object, property or collection element this pointer represents. Never converts the object to a canonical type: returns it as is. For example, for an XML element, getNode() will return the element itself rather than the text it contains.
      Returns:
      Object node
    • setValue

      void setValue(Object value)
      Modifies the value of the object, property or collection element this pointer represents.
      Parameters:
      value - value to set
    • getRootNode

      Object getRootNode()
      Returns the node this pointer is based on.
      Returns:
      Object
    • asPath

      String asPath()
      Returns a string that is a proper "canonical" XPath that corresponds to this pointer. Consider this example:

      Pointer ptr = ctx.getPointer("//employees[firstName = 'John']")

      The value of ptr.asPath() will look something like "/departments[2]/employees[3]", so, basically, it represents the concrete location(s) of the result of a search performed by JXPath. If an object in the pointer's path is a Dynamic Property object (like a Map), the asPath method generates an XPath that looks like this: " /departments[@name = 'HR']/employees[3]".

      Returns:
      String path
    • clone

      Object clone()
      Pointers are cloneable.
      Returns:
      cloned Object