java.text
Class CollationKey

java.lang.Object
  extended by java.text.CollationKey
All Implemented Interfaces:
Comparable<CollationKey>

public class CollationKey
extends Object
implements Comparable<CollationKey>

This class represents a pre-computed series of bits representing a String for under a particular Collator. This value may be compared bitwise against another CollationKey representing a different String under the same Collator in a manner than is usually more efficient than using the raw Collator compare methods. There is overhead associated with calculating this value, so it is generally not advisable to compute CollationKey's unless multiple comparisons against a String will be done. (For example, in a sort routine).

This class cannot be instantiated directly. Instead, a CollationKey is created by calling the getCollationKey method on an instance of Collator.


Method Summary
 int compareTo(CollationKey ck)
          This method compares the specified object to this one.
 boolean equals(Object obj)
          This method tests the specified Object for equality with this object.
 String getSourceString()
          This method returns the String that this object was created from.
 int hashCode()
          This method returns a hash value for this object.
 byte[] toByteArray()
          This method returns the collation bit sequence as a byte array.
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, finalize, getClass, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait
 

Method Detail

compareTo

public int compareTo(CollationKey ck)
This method compares the specified object to this one. An integer is returned which indicates whether the specified object is less than, greater than, or equal to this object.

Specified by:
compareTo in interface Comparable<CollationKey>
Parameters:
ck - The CollationKey to compare against this one.
Returns:
A negative integer if this object is less than the specified object, 0 if it is equal or a positive integer if it is greater than the specified object.

equals

public boolean equals(Object obj)
This method tests the specified Object for equality with this object. This will be true if and only if:

Overrides:
equals in class Object
Parameters:
obj - The Object to test for equality.
Returns:
true if the specified object is equal to this one, false otherwise.
See Also:
Object.hashCode()

getSourceString

public String getSourceString()
This method returns the String that this object was created from.

Returns:
The source String for this object.

hashCode

public int hashCode()
This method returns a hash value for this object. The hash value returned will be the hash code of the bit key so that identical bit keys will return the same value.

Overrides:
hashCode in class Object
Returns:
A hash value for this object.
See Also:
Object.equals(Object), System.identityHashCode(Object)

toByteArray

public byte[] toByteArray()
This method returns the collation bit sequence as a byte array.

Returns:
A byte array containing the collation bit sequence.