java.util

Interface Formattable

public interface Formattable

The Formattable interface is used to provide customised formatting to arbitrary objects via the Formatter. The formatTo(Formatter,int,int,int) method is called for Formattable objects used with the 's' conversion operator, allowing the object to provide its own formatting of its internal data.

Thread safety is left up to the implementing class. Thus, Formattable objects are not guaranteed to be thread-safe, and users should make their own provisions for multiple thread access.

Since:
1.5

Method Summary

void
formatTo(Formatter formatter, int flags, int width, int precision)
Formats the object using the supplied formatter to the specification provided by the given flags, width and precision.

Method Details

formatTo

public void formatTo(Formatter formatter,
                     int flags,
                     int width,
                     int precision)
Formats the object using the supplied formatter to the specification provided by the given flags, width and precision.
Parameters:
formatter - the formatter to use for formatting the object. The formatter gives access to the output stream and locale via Formatter.out() and Formatter.locale() respectively.
flags - a bit mask constructed from the flags in the FormattableFlags class. When no flags are set, the implementing class should use its defaults.
width - the minimum number of characters to include. A value of -1 indicates no minimum. The remaining space is padded with ' ' either on the left (the default) or right (if left justification is specified by the flags).
precision - the maximum number of characters to include. A value of -1 indicates no maximum. This value is applied prior to the minimum (the width). Thus, a value may meet the minimum width initially, but not when the width value is applied, due to characters being removed by the precision value.
Throws:
IllegalFormatException - if there is a problem with the syntax of the format specification or a mismatch between it and the arguments.

Formattable.java -- Objects which can be passed to a Formatter Copyright (C) 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc. This file is part of GNU Classpath. GNU Classpath is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any later version. GNU Classpath is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with GNU Classpath; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA. Linking this library statically or dynamically with other modules is making a combined work based on this library. Thus, the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole combination. As a special exception, the copyright holders of this library give you permission to link this library with independent modules to produce an executable, regardless of the license terms of these independent modules, and to copy and distribute the resulting executable under terms of your choice, provided that you also meet, for each linked independent module, the terms and conditions of the license of that module. An independent module is a module which is not derived from or based on this library. If you modify this library, you may extend this exception to your version of the library, but you are not obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do so, delete this exception statement from your version.