java.lang

Class Enum<T>

public abstract class Enum<T extends Enum<T>> extends Object implements Comparable<T>, Serializable

This class represents a Java enumeration. All enumerations are subclasses of this class.

Since: 1.5

Constructor Summary
protected	Enum(String name, int ordinal) This constructor is used by the compiler to create enumeration constants.

Method Summary
protected Object	clone() Cloning of enumeration constants is prevented, to maintain their singleton status.
int	compareTo(T e) Returns an integer which represents the relative ordering of this enumeration constant.
boolean	equals(Object o) Returns true if this enumeration is equivalent to the supplied object, `o`.
protected void	finalize() Enumerations can not have finalization methods.
Class<T>	getDeclaringClass() Returns the type of this enumeration constant.
int	hashCode() Returns the hash code of this constant.
String	name() Returns the name of this enumeration constant.
int	ordinal() Returns the number of this enumeration constant, which represents the order in which it was originally declared, starting from zero.
String	toString() Returns a textual representation of this enumeration constant.

Constructor Detail

Enum

protected Enum(String name, int ordinal)

This constructor is used by the compiler to create enumeration constants.

Parameters: name the name of the enumeration constant. ordinal the number of the enumeration constant, based on the declaration order of the constants and starting from zero.

Method Detail

clone

protected final Object clone()

Cloning of enumeration constants is prevented, to maintain their singleton status.

Returns: the cloned object.

Throws: CloneNotSupportedException as enumeration constants can't be cloned.

Returns an integer which represents the relative ordering of this enumeration constant. Enumeration constants are ordered by their ordinals, which represents their declaration order. So, comparing two identical constants yields zero, while one declared prior to this returns a positive integer and one declared after yields a negative integer.

Parameters: e the enumeration constant to compare.

Returns: a negative integer if e.ordinal < this.ordinal, zero if e.ordinal == this.ordinal and a positive integer if e.ordinal > this.ordinal.

Throws: ClassCastException if e is not an enumeration constant of the same class.

equals

public final boolean equals(Object o)

Returns true if this enumeration is equivalent to the supplied object, o. Only one instance of an enumeration constant exists, so the comparison is simply done using ==.

Parameters: o the object to compare to this.

Returns: true if this == o.

finalize

protected final void finalize()

Enumerations can not have finalization methods.

Since: 1.6

getDeclaringClass

public final Class<T> getDeclaringClass()

Returns the type of this enumeration constant. This is the class corresponding to the declaration of the enumeration.

Returns: the type of this enumeration constant.

hashCode

public final int hashCode()

Returns the hash code of this constant. This is simply the ordinal.

Returns: the hash code of this enumeration constant.

name

public final String name()

Returns the name of this enumeration constant.

Returns: the name of the constant.

ordinal

public final int ordinal()

Returns the number of this enumeration constant, which represents the order in which it was originally declared, starting from zero.

Returns: the number of this constant.

toString

public String toString()

Returns a textual representation of this enumeration constant. By default, this is simply the declared name of the constant, but specific enumeration types may provide an implementation more suited to the data being stored.

Returns: a textual representation of this constant.