Contents | Package | Class | Tree | Deprecated | Index | Help Java 1.2 Beta 3
PREV | NEXT SHOW LISTS | HIDE LISTS

Class java.text.CollationElementIterator

java.lang.Object
    |
    +----java.text.CollationElementIterator

public final class CollationElementIterator
extends Object
The CollationElementIterator class is used as an iterator to walk through each character of an international string. Use the iterator to return the ordering priority of the positioned character. The ordering priority of a character, which we refer to as a key, defines how a character is collated in the given collation object.

For example, consider the following in Spanish:

 "ca" -> the first key is key('c') and second key is key('a').
 "cha" -> the first key is key('ch') and second key is key('a').
 
And in German,
 "äb"-> the first key is key('a'), the second key is key('e'), and
 the third key is key('b').
 
The key of a character is an integer composed of primary order(short), secondary order(byte), and tertiary order(byte). Java strictly defines the size and signedness of its primitive data types. Therefore, the static functions primaryOrder, secondaryOrder, and tertiaryOrder return int, short, and short respectively to ensure the correctness of the key value.

Example of the iterator usage,

 // get the first key of the string
 String str = "This is a test";
 CollationElementIterator c =
     new CollationElementIterator(str, 0, str.length(),
                                  Collator.getInstance());
 int primaryOrder = CollationElementIterator.primaryOrder(c->next());
 

CollationElementIterator.next returns the collation order of the next character. A collation order consists of primary order, secondary order and tertiary order. The data type of the collation order is int. The first 16 bits of a collation order is its primary order; the next 8 bits is the secondary order and the last 8 bits is the tertiary order.

See Also:
Collator, RuleBasedCollator

Field Summary
static int  NULLORDER
Null order which indicates the end of string is reached by the cursor.
 

Method Summary
int  next()
Get the ordering priority of the next character in the string.
static int  primaryOrder(int order)
Get the primary order of a collation order.
void  reset()
Resets the cursor to the beginning of the string.
static short  secondaryOrder(int order)
Get the secondary order of a collation order.
static short  tertiaryOrder(int order)
Get the tertiary order of a collation order.
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
 clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait
 

Field Detail

NULLORDER

public static final int NULLORDER
Null order which indicates the end of string is reached by the cursor.
Method Detail

reset

public void reset()
Resets the cursor to the beginning of the string.

next

public int next()
Get the ordering priority of the next character in the string.
Returns:
the next character's ordering. Returns NULLORDER if the end of string is reached.

primaryOrder

public static final int primaryOrder(int order)
Get the primary order of a collation order.
Parameters:
order - the collation order
Returns:
the primary order of a collation order.

secondaryOrder

public static final short secondaryOrder(int order)
Get the secondary order of a collation order.
Parameters:
order - the collation order
Returns:
the secondary order of a collation order.

tertiaryOrder

public static final short tertiaryOrder(int order)
Get the tertiary order of a collation order.
Parameters:
order - the collation order
Returns:
the tertiary order of a collation order.

Contents | Package | Class | Tree | Deprecated | Index | Help Java 1.2 Beta 3
PREV | NEXT SHOW LISTS | HIDE LISTS

Submit a bug or feature
Submit comments/suggestions about new javadoc look.
Java is a trademark or registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the US and other countries.
Copyright 1993-1998 Sun Microsystems, Inc. 901 San Antonio Road, Palo Alto, California, 94303, U.S.A. All Rights Reserved.