JavaTM 2 Platform Std. Ed. v1.6.0
java.text
Class CollationKey
java.lang.Object
java.text.CollationKey
- All Implemented Interfaces:
- Comparable<CollationKey>
public abstract class CollationKey - extends Object
- implements Comparable<CollationKey>
A CollationKey represents a String under the
rules of a specific Collator object. Comparing two
CollationKey s returns the relative order of the
String s they represent. Using CollationKey s
to compare String s is generally faster than using
Collator.compare . Thus, when the String s
must be compared multiple times, for example when sorting a list
of String s. It's more efficient to use CollationKey s.
You can not create CollationKey s directly. Rather,
generate them by calling Collator.getCollationKey .
You can only compare CollationKey s generated from
the same Collator object.
Generating a CollationKey for a String
involves examining the entire String
and converting it to series of bits that can be compared bitwise. This
allows fast comparisons once the keys are generated. The cost of generating
keys is recouped in faster comparisons when String s need
to be compared many times. On the other hand, the result of a comparison
is often determined by the first couple of characters of each String .
Collator.compare examines only as many characters as it needs which
allows it to be faster when doing single comparisons.
The following example shows how CollationKey s might be used
to sort a list of String s.
// Create an array of CollationKeys for the Strings to be sorted.
Collator myCollator = Collator.getInstance();
CollationKey[] keys = new CollationKey[3];
keys[0] = myCollator.getCollationKey("Tom");
keys[1] = myCollator.getCollationKey("Dick");
keys[2] = myCollator.getCollationKey("Harry");
sort( keys );
//...
// Inside body of sort routine, compare keys this way
if( keys[i].compareTo( keys[j] ) > 0 )
// swap keys[i] and keys[j]
//...
// Finally, when we've returned from sort.
System.out.println( keys[0].getSourceString() );
System.out.println( keys[1].getSourceString() );
System.out.println( keys[2].getSourceString() );
- See Also:
Collator ,
RuleBasedCollator
Method Summary |
abstract int |
compareTo(CollationKey target)
Compare this CollationKey to the target CollationKey. |
String |
getSourceString()
Returns the String that this CollationKey represents. |
abstract byte[] |
toByteArray()
Converts the CollationKey to a sequence of bits. |
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object |
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait |
CollationKey
protected CollationKey(String source)
- CollationKey constructor.
- Parameters:
source - - the source string.
- Throws:
NullPointerException - if source is null.- Since:
- 1.6
compareTo
public abstract int compareTo(CollationKey target)
- Compare this CollationKey to the target CollationKey. The collation rules of the
Collator object which created these keys are applied. Note:
CollationKeys created by different Collators can not be compared.
- Specified by:
compareTo in interface Comparable<CollationKey>
- Parameters:
target - target CollationKey
- Returns:
- Returns an integer value. Value is less than zero if this is less
than target, value is zero if this and target are equal and value is greater than
zero if this is greater than target.
- See Also:
Collator.compare(java.lang.String, java.lang.String)
getSourceString
public String getSourceString()
- Returns the String that this CollationKey represents.
toByteArray
public abstract byte[] toByteArray()
- Converts the CollationKey to a sequence of bits. If two CollationKeys
could be legitimately compared, then one could compare the byte arrays
for each of those keys to obtain the same result. Byte arrays are
organized most significant byte first.
Copyright 2003 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved
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