/*
* @(#)Class.java 1.25 95/08/23
*
* Copyright (c) 1994 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
*
* Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software
* and its documentation for NON-COMMERCIAL purposes and without
* fee is hereby granted provided that this copyright notice
* appears in all copies. Please refer to the file "copyright.html"
* for further important copyright and licensing information.
*
* SUN MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES ABOUT THE SUITABILITY OF
* THE SOFTWARE, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED
* TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A
* PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. SUN SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR
* ANY DAMAGES SUFFERED BY LICENSEE AS A RESULT OF USING, MODIFYING OR
* DISTRIBUTING THIS SOFTWARE OR ITS DERIVATIVES.
*/
package java.lang;
/**
* Class objects contain runtime representations of classes. Every
* object in the system is an instance of some Class, and for each Class
* there is one of these descriptor objects. A Class descriptor is not
* modifiable at runtime.<p>
* The following example uses a Class object to print the Class name
* of an object:
* <pre>
* void printClassName(Object obj) {
* System.out.println("The class of " + obj +
* " is " + obj.getClass().getName());
* }
* </pre>
* @version 1.25, 23 Aug 1995
*/
public final
class Class {
/**
* Make sure nobody instantiates this class
*/
private Class() {}
/**
* Returns the runtime Class descriptor for the specified Class.
* For example, the following code fragment returns the runtime
* Class descriptor for the Class named java.lang.Thread:
* <pre>
* Class t = Class.forName("java.lang.Thread")
* </pre>
* @param className the fully qualified name of the desired Class
* @exception ClassNotFoundException If the Class could not be found.
*/
public static native Class forName(String className) throws ClassNotFoundException;
/**
* Creates a new instance of this Class.
* @return the new instance of this Class.
* @exception InstantiationException If you try to instantiate
* an abstract class or an interface, or if
* the instantiation fails for some other reason.
* @exception IllegalAccessException If the class or initializer
* is not accessible.
*/
public native Object newInstance()
throws InstantiationException, IllegalAccessException;
/**
* Returns the name of this Class.
*/
public native String getName();
/**
* Returns the superclass of this Class.
*/
public native Class getSuperclass();
/**
* Returns the interfaces of this Class. An array
* of length 0 is returned if this Class implements no interfaces.
*/
public native Class getInterfaces()[];
/**
* Returns the Class loader of this Class. Returns null
* if this Class does not have a Class loader.
* @see ClassLoader
*/
public native ClassLoader getClassLoader();
/**
* Returns a boolean indicating whether or not this Class is an
* interface.
*/
public native boolean isInterface();
/**
* Returns the name of this Class or this interface. The word
* "class" is prepended if it is a Class; the word "interface"
* is prepended if it is an interface.
*/
public String toString() {
return (isInterface() ? "interface " : "class ") + getName();
}
}