JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.4.2

java.lang.reflect
Class AccessibleObject

java.lang.Object
  extended byjava.lang.reflect.AccessibleObject
Direct Known Subclasses:
Constructor, Field, Method

public class AccessibleObject
extends Object

The AccessibleObject class is the base class for Field, Method and Constructor objects. It provides the ability to flag a reflected object as suppressing default Java language access control checks when it is used. The access checks--for public, default (package) access, protected, and private members--are performed when Fields, Methods or Constructors are used to set or get fields, to invoke methods, or to create and initialize new instances of classes, respectively.

Setting the accessible flag in a reflected object permits sophisticated applications with sufficient privilege, such as Java Object Serialization or other persistence mechanisms, to manipulate objects in a manner that would normally be prohibited.

Since:
1.2
See Also:
Field, Method, Constructor, ReflectPermission

Constructor Summary
protected AccessibleObject()
          Constructor: only used by the Java Virtual Machine.
 
Method Summary
 boolean isAccessible()
          Get the value of the accessible flag for this object.
static void setAccessible(AccessibleObject[] array, boolean flag)
          Convenience method to set the accessible flag for an array of objects with a single security check (for efficiency).
 void setAccessible(boolean flag)
          Set the accessible flag for this object to the indicated boolean value.
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait
 

Constructor Detail

AccessibleObject

protected AccessibleObject()
Constructor: only used by the Java Virtual Machine.

Method Detail

setAccessible

public static void setAccessible(AccessibleObject[] array,
                                 boolean flag)
                          throws SecurityException
Convenience method to set the accessible flag for an array of objects with a single security check (for efficiency).

First, if there is a security manager, its checkPermission method is called with a ReflectPermission("suppressAccessChecks") permission.

A SecurityException is raised if flag is true but accessibility of any of the elements of the input array may not be changed (for example, if the element object is a Constructor object for the class Class). In the event of such a SecurityException, the accessiblity of objects is set to flag for array elements upto (and excluding) the element for which the exception occurred; the accessiblity of elements beyond (and including) the element for which the exception occurred is unchanged.

Parameters:
array - the array of AccessibleObjects
flag - the new value for the accessible flag in each object
Throws:
SecurityException - if the request is denied.
See Also:
SecurityManager.checkPermission(java.security.Permission), RuntimePermission

setAccessible

public void setAccessible(boolean flag)
                   throws SecurityException
Set the accessible flag for this object to the indicated boolean value. A value of true indicates that the reflected object should suppress Java language access checking when it is used. A value of false indicates that the reflected object should enforce Java language access checks.

First, if there is a security manager, its checkPermission method is called with a ReflectPermission("suppressAccessChecks") permission.

A SecurityException is raised if flag is true but accessibility of this object may not be changed (for example, if this element object is a Constructor object for the class Class).

A SecurityException is raised if this object is a Constructor object for the class java.lang.Class, and flag is true.

Parameters:
flag - the new value for the accessible flag
Throws:
SecurityException - if the request is denied.
See Also:
SecurityManager.checkPermission(java.security.Permission), RuntimePermission

isAccessible

public boolean isAccessible()
Get the value of the accessible flag for this object.

Returns:
the value of the object's accessible flag

JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.4.2

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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.

Copyright 2003 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Use is subject to license terms. Also see the documentation redistribution policy.