Java 2 Platform SE v1.3.1: Class Introspector

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Java^TM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.3.1

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java.beans
Class Introspector

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--java.beans.Introspector

public class Introspector
extends Object

The Introspector class provides a standard way for tools to learn about the properties, events, and methods supported by a target Java Bean.

For each of those three kinds of information, the Introspector will separately analyze the bean's class and superclasses looking for either explicit or implicit information and use that information to build a BeanInfo object that comprehensively describes the target bean.

For each class "Foo", explicit information may be available if there exists a corresponding "FooBeanInfo" class that provides a non-null value when queried for the information. We first look for the BeanInfo class by taking the full package-qualified name of the target bean class and appending "BeanInfo" to form a new class name. If this fails, then we take the final classname component of this name, and look for that class in each of the packages specified in the BeanInfo package search path.

Thus for a class such as "sun.xyz.OurButton" we would first look for a BeanInfo class called "sun.xyz.OurButtonBeanInfo" and if that failed we'd look in each package in the BeanInfo search path for an OurButtonBeanInfo class. With the default search path, this would mean looking for "sun.beans.infos.OurButtonBeanInfo".

If a class provides explicit BeanInfo about itself then we add that to the BeanInfo information we obtained from analyzing any derived classes, but we regard the explicit information as being definitive for the current class and its base classes, and do not proceed any further up the superclass chain.

If we don't find explicit BeanInfo on a class, we use low-level reflection to study the methods of the class and apply standard design patterns to identify property accessors, event sources, or public methods. We then proceed to analyze the class's superclass and add in the information from it (and possibly on up the superclass chain).

For more information about introspection and design patterns, please consult the JavaBeans specification.

Field Summary

static int IGNORE_ALL_BEANINFO


static int IGNORE_IMMEDIATE_BEANINFO


static int USE_ALL_BEANINFO


Method Summary

static String decapitalize(String name)
          Utility method to take a string and convert it to normal Java variable name capitalization.

static void flushCaches()
          Flush all of the Introspector's internal caches.

static void flushFromCaches(Class clz)
          Flush the Introspector's internal cached information for a given class.

static BeanInfo getBeanInfo(Class beanClass)
          Introspect on a Java bean and learn about all its properties, exposed methods, and events.

static BeanInfo getBeanInfo(Class beanClass, Class stopClass)
          Introspect on a Java bean and learn all about its properties, exposed methods, below a given "stop" point.

static BeanInfo getBeanInfo(Class beanClass, int flags)
          Introspect on a Java bean and learn about all its properties, exposed methods, and events, subject to some control flags.

static String[] getBeanInfoSearchPath()
          Gets the list of package names that will be used for finding BeanInfo classes.

static void setBeanInfoSearchPath(String[] path)
          Change the list of package names that will be used for finding BeanInfo classes.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Field Detail

USE_ALL_BEANINFO

public static final int USE_ALL_BEANINFO

IGNORE_IMMEDIATE_BEANINFO

public static final int IGNORE_IMMEDIATE_BEANINFO

IGNORE_ALL_BEANINFO

public static final int IGNORE_ALL_BEANINFO

Method Detail

getBeanInfo

public static BeanInfo getBeanInfo(Class beanClass)
                            throws IntrospectionException

Introspect on a Java bean and learn about all its properties, exposed methods, and events.

Parameters:: beanClass - The bean class to be analyzed.
Returns:: A BeanInfo object describing the target bean.
Throws:: IntrospectionException - if an exception occurs during introspection.

getBeanInfo

public static BeanInfo getBeanInfo(Class beanClass,
                                   int flags)
                            throws IntrospectionException

Introspect on a Java bean and learn about all its properties, exposed methods, and events, subject to some control flags.

Parameters:: beanClass - The bean class to be analyzed.; flags - Flags to control the introspection. If flags == USE_ALL_BEANINFO then we use all of the BeanInfo classes we can discover. If flags == IGNORE_IMMEDIATE_BEANINFO then we ignore any BeanInfo associated with the specified beanClass. If flags == IGNORE_ALL_BEANINFO then we ignore all BeanInfo associated with the specified beanClass or any of its parent classes.
Returns:: A BeanInfo object describing the target bean.
Throws:: IntrospectionException - if an exception occurs during introspection.

getBeanInfo

public static BeanInfo getBeanInfo(Class beanClass,
                                   Class stopClass)
                            throws IntrospectionException

Introspect on a Java bean and learn all about its properties, exposed methods, below a given "stop" point.

Parameters:: bean - The bean class to be analyzed.; stopClass - The baseclass at which to stop the analysis. Any methods/properties/events in the stopClass or in its baseclasses will be ignored in the analysis.
Throws:: IntrospectionException - if an exception occurs during introspection.

decapitalize

public static String decapitalize(String name)

Utility method to take a string and convert it to normal Java variable name capitalization. This normally means converting the first character from upper case to lower case, but in the (unusual) special case when there is more than one character and both the first and second characters are upper case, we leave it alone.

Thus "FooBah" becomes "fooBah" and "X" becomes "x", but "URL" stays as "URL".

Parameters:: name - The string to be decapitalized.
Returns:: The decapitalized version of the string.

getBeanInfoSearchPath

public static String[] getBeanInfoSearchPath()

Gets the list of package names that will be used for finding BeanInfo classes.

Returns:: The array of package names that will be searched in order to find BeanInfo classes.
This is initially set to {"sun.beans.infos"}.

setBeanInfoSearchPath

public static void setBeanInfoSearchPath(String[] path)

Change the list of package names that will be used for finding BeanInfo classes.

First, if there is a security manager, its checkPropertiesAccess method is called. This could result in a SecurityException.

Parameters:: path - Array of package names.
Throws:: SecurityException - if a security manager exists and its checkPropertiesAccess method doesn't allow setting of system properties.
See Also:: SecurityManager.checkPropertiesAccess()

flushCaches

public static void flushCaches()

Flush all of the Introspector's internal caches. This method is not normally required. It is normally only needed by advanced tools that update existing "Class" objects in-place and need to make the Introspector re-analyze existing Class objects.

flushFromCaches

public static void flushFromCaches(Class clz)

Flush the Introspector's internal cached information for a given class. This method is not normally required. It is normally only needed by advanced tools that update existing "Class" objects in-place and need to make the Introspector re-analyze an existing Class object. Note that only the direct state associated with the target Class object is flushed. We do not flush state for other Class objects with the same name, nor do we flush state for any related Class objects (such as subclasses), even though their state may include information indirectly obtained from the target Class object.

Parameters:: clz - Class object to be flushed.

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Java^TM 2 Platform
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For further API reference and developer documentation, see Java 2 SDK SE Developer Documentation. That documentation contains more detailed, developer-targeted descriptions, with conceptual overviews, definitions of terms, workarounds, and working code examples.

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java.beans Class Introspector

USE_ALL_BEANINFO

IGNORE_IMMEDIATE_BEANINFO

IGNORE_ALL_BEANINFO

getBeanInfo

getBeanInfo

getBeanInfo

decapitalize

getBeanInfoSearchPath

setBeanInfoSearchPath

flushCaches

flushFromCaches

java.beans
Class Introspector