org.eclipse.core.runtime
Interface IPath

All Superinterfaces:

Cloneable

All Known Implementing Classes:

Path

public interface IPath

extends Cloneable

A path is an ordered collection of string segments, separated by a standard separator character, "/". A path may also have a leading and/or a trailing separator. Paths also be prefixed by an optional device id, which includes the character(s) which separate the device id from the rest of the path. For example, "C:" and "Server/Volume:" are typical device ids. A device independent path has null for a device id.

Note that paths are value objects; all operations on paths return a new path; the path that is operated on is unscathed.

UNC paths are denoted by leading double-slashes such as //Server/Volume/My/Path. When a new path is constructed all double-slashes are removed except those appearing at the beginning of the path.

This interface is not intended to be implemented by clients.

See Also:

Path

Field Summary

static char	DEVICE_SEPARATOR Device separator character constant ":" used in paths.
static char	SEPARATOR Path separator character constant "/" used in paths.

Method Summary

IPath	addFileExtension(String extension) Returns a new path which is the same as this path but with the given file extension added.
IPath	addTrailingSeparator() Returns a path with the same segments as this path but with a trailing separator added.
IPath	append(IPath path) Returns the canonicalized path obtained from the concatenation of the given path's segments to the end of this path.
IPath	append(String path) Returns the canonicalized path obtained from the concatenation of the given string path to the end of this path.
Object	clone() Returns a copy of this path.
boolean	equals(Object obj) Returns whether this path equals the given object.
String	getDevice() Returns the device id for this path, or null if this path has no device id.
String	getFileExtension() Returns the file extension portion of this path, or null if there is none.
boolean	hasTrailingSeparator() Returns whether this path has a trailing separator.
boolean	isAbsolute() Returns whether this path is an absolute path (ignoring any device id).
boolean	isEmpty() Returns whether this path has no segments and is not a root path.
boolean	isPrefixOf(IPath anotherPath) Returns whether this path is a prefix of the given path.
boolean	isRoot() Returns whether this path is a root path.
boolean	isUNC() Returns a boolean value indicating whether or not this path is considered to be in UNC form.
boolean	isValidPath(String path) Returns whether the given string is syntactically correct as a path.
boolean	isValidSegment(String segment) Returns whether the given string is valid as a segment in a path.
String	lastSegment() Returns the last segment of this path, or null if it does not have any segments.
IPath	makeAbsolute() Returns an absolute path with the segments and device id of this path.
IPath	makeRelative() Returns a relative path with the segments and device id of this path.
IPath	makeUNC(boolean toUNC) Return a new path which is the equivalent of this path converted to UNC form (if the given boolean is true) or this path not as a UNC path (if the given boolean is false).
int	matchingFirstSegments(IPath anotherPath) Returns a count of the number of segments which match in this path and the given path (device ids are ignored), comparing in increasing segment number order.
IPath	removeFileExtension() Returns a new path which is the same as this path but with the file extension removed.
IPath	removeFirstSegments(int count) Returns a copy of this path with the given number of segments removed from the beginning.
IPath	removeLastSegments(int count) Returns a copy of this path with the given number of segments removed from the end.
IPath	removeTrailingSeparator() Returns a path with the same segments as this path but with a trailing separator removed.
String	segment(int index) Returns the specified segment of this path, or null if the path does not have such a segment.
int	segmentCount() Returns the number of segments in this path.
String[]	segments() Returns the segments in this path in order.
IPath	setDevice(String device) Returns a new path which is the same as this path but with the given device id.
File	toFile() Returns a java.io.File corresponding to this path.
String	toOSString() Returns a string representation of this path which uses the platform-dependent path separator defined by java.io.File.
String	toString() Returns a string representation of this path, including its device id.
IPath	uptoSegment(int count) Returns a copy of this path truncated after the given number of segments.

Field Detail

SEPARATOR

public static final char SEPARATOR

Path separator character constant "/" used in paths.

See Also:

Constant Field Values

DEVICE_SEPARATOR

public static final char DEVICE_SEPARATOR

Device separator character constant ":" used in paths.

See Also:

Constant Field Values

Method Detail

addFileExtension

public IPath addFileExtension(String extension)

Returns a new path which is the same as this path but with the given file extension added. If this path is empty, root or has a trailing separator, this path is returned. If this path already has an extension, the existing extension is left and the given extension simply appended. Clients wishing to replace the current extension should first remove the extension and then add the desired one.

The file extension portion is defined as the string following the last period (".") character in the last segment. The given extension should not include a leading ".".

Parameters:

extension - the file extension to append

Returns:

the new path

addTrailingSeparator

public IPath addTrailingSeparator()

Returns a path with the same segments as this path but with a trailing separator added. This path must have at least one segment.

If this path already has a trailing separator, this path is returned.

Returns:

the new path

See Also:

hasTrailingSeparator(), removeTrailingSeparator()

append

public IPath append(String path)

Returns the canonicalized path obtained from the concatenation of the given string path to the end of this path. The given string path must be a valid path. If it has a trailing separator, the result will have a trailing separator. The device id of this path is preserved (the one of the given string is ignored). Duplicate slashes are removed from the path except at the beginning where the path is considered to be UNC.

Parameters:

path - the string path to concatenate

Returns:

the new path

See Also:

isValidPath(java.lang.String)

append

public IPath append(IPath path)

Returns the canonicalized path obtained from the concatenation of the given path's segments to the end of this path. If the given path has a trailing separator, the result will have a trailing separator. The device id of this path is preserved (the one of the given path is ignored). Duplicate slashes are removed from the path except at the beginning where the path is considered to be UNC.

Parameters:

path - the path to concatenate

Returns:

the new path

clone

public Object clone()

Returns a copy of this path.

Overrides:

clone in class Object

Returns:

the cloned path

equals

public boolean equals(Object obj)

Returns whether this path equals the given object.

Equality for paths is defined to be: same sequence of segments, same absolute/relative status, and same device. Trailing separators are disregarded. Paths are not generally considered equal to objects other than paths.

Overrides:

equals in class Object

Parameters:

obj - the other object

Returns:

true if the paths are equivalent, and false if they are not

getDevice

public String getDevice()

Returns the device id for this path, or null if this path has no device id. Note that the result will end in ':'.

Returns:

the device id, or null

See Also:

setDevice(java.lang.String)

getFileExtension

public String getFileExtension()

Returns the file extension portion of this path, or null if there is none.

The file extension portion is defined as the string following the last period (".") character in the last segment. If there is no period in the last segment, the path has no file extension portion. If the last segment ends in a period, the file extension portion is the empty string.

Returns:

the file extension or null

hasTrailingSeparator

public boolean hasTrailingSeparator()

Returns whether this path has a trailing separator.

Note: In the root path ("/"), the separator is considered to be leading rather than trailing.

Returns:

true if this path has a trailing separator, and false otherwise

See Also:

addTrailingSeparator(), removeTrailingSeparator()

isAbsolute

public boolean isAbsolute()

Returns whether this path is an absolute path (ignoring any device id).

Absolute paths start with a path separator. A root path, like / or C:/, is considered absolute.

Returns:

true if this path is an absolute path, and false otherwise

isEmpty

public boolean isEmpty()

Returns whether this path has no segments and is not a root path.

Returns:

true if this path is empty, and false otherwise

isPrefixOf

public boolean isPrefixOf(IPath anotherPath)

Returns whether this path is a prefix of the given path. To be a prefix, this path's segments must appear in the argument path in the same order, and their device ids must match.

An empty path is a prefix of all paths with the same device; a root path is a prefix of all absolute paths with the same device.

Parameters:

anotherPath - the other path

Returns:

true if this path is a prefix of the given path, and false otherwise

isRoot

public boolean isRoot()

Returns whether this path is a root path.

The root path is the absolute path with zero segments; e.g., / or C:/. The separator is considered a leading separator, not a trailing one.

Returns:

true if this path is a root path, and false otherwise

isUNC

public boolean isUNC()

Returns a boolean value indicating whether or not this path is considered to be in UNC form. Return false if this path has a device set or if the first 2 characters of the path string are not Path.SEPARATOR.

Returns:

boolean indicating if this path is UNC

isValidPath

public boolean isValidPath(String path)

Returns whether the given string is syntactically correct as a path. The device id is the prefix up to and including the first ":"; the path proper is everything to the right of it, or the entire string if there is no ":". The device id is not checked for validity; the path proper is correct if each of the segments in its canonicalized form is valid.

Returns:

true if the given string is a valid path, and false otherwise

See Also:

isValidSegment(java.lang.String)

isValidSegment

public boolean isValidSegment(String segment)

Returns whether the given string is valid as a segment in a path. The rules for valid segments are as follows:

• the empty string is not valid
• any string containing the colon character (":") is not valid
• any string containing the slash character ("/") is not valid
• any string containing the backslash character ("\") is not valid
• any string starting or ending with a whitespace character is not valid
• all other strings are valid

Parameters:

segment - the path segment to check

Returns:

true if the given path segment is valid, and false otherwise

See Also:

Character.isWhitespace(char)

lastSegment

public String lastSegment()

Returns the last segment of this path, or null if it does not have any segments.

Returns:

the last segment of this path, or null

makeAbsolute

public IPath makeAbsolute()

Returns an absolute path with the segments and device id of this path. If this path is absolute, it is simply returned.

Returns:

the new path

makeRelative

public IPath makeRelative()

Returns a relative path with the segments and device id of this path. If this path is relative, it is simply returned.

Returns:

the new path

makeUNC

public IPath makeUNC(boolean toUNC)

Return a new path which is the equivalent of this path converted to UNC form (if the given boolean is true) or this path not as a UNC path (if the given boolean is false). If UNC, the returned path will not have a device and the first 2 characters of the path string will be Path.SEPARATOR. If not UNC, the first 2 characters of the returned path string will not be Path.SEPARATOR.

Parameters:

toUNC - true if converting to UNC, false otherwise

Returns:

the new path, either in UNC form or not depending on the boolean parm

matchingFirstSegments

public int matchingFirstSegments(IPath anotherPath)

Returns a count of the number of segments which match in this path and the given path (device ids are ignored), comparing in increasing segment number order.

Parameters:

anotherPath - the other path

Returns:

the number of matching segments

removeFileExtension

public IPath removeFileExtension()

Returns a new path which is the same as this path but with the file extension removed. If this path does not have an extension, this path is returned.

The file extension portion is defined as the string following the last period (".") character in the last segment. If there is no period in the last segment, the path has no file extension portion. If the last segment ends in a period, the file extension portion is the empty string.

Returns:

the new path

removeFirstSegments

public IPath removeFirstSegments(int count)

Returns a copy of this path with the given number of segments removed from the beginning. The device id is preserved. The number must be greater or equal zero. If the count is zero, this path is returned. The resulting path will always be a relative path with respect to this path. If the number equals or exceeds the number of segments in this path, an empty relative path is returned.

Returns:

the new path

removeLastSegments

public IPath removeLastSegments(int count)

Returns a copy of this path with the given number of segments removed from the end. The device id is preserved. The number must be greater or equal zero. If the count is zero, this path is returned.

If this path has a trailing separator, it will still have a trailing separator after the last segments are removed (assuming there are some segments left). If there is no trailing separator, the result will not have a trailing separator. If the number equals or exceeds the number of segments in this path, an empty path is returned.

Returns:

the new path

removeTrailingSeparator

public IPath removeTrailingSeparator()

Returns a path with the same segments as this path but with a trailing separator removed. Does nothing if this path does not have at least one segment. The device id is preserved.

If this path does not have a trailing separator, this path is returned.

Returns:

the new path

See Also:

addTrailingSeparator(), hasTrailingSeparator()

segment

public String segment(int index)

Returns the specified segment of this path, or null if the path does not have such a segment.

Parameters:

index - the 0-based segment index

Returns:

the specified segment, or null

segmentCount

public int segmentCount()

Returns the number of segments in this path.

Note that both root and empty paths have 0 segments.

Returns:

the number of segments

segments

public String[] segments()

Returns the segments in this path in order.

Returns:

an array of string segments

setDevice

public IPath setDevice(String device)

Returns a new path which is the same as this path but with the given device id. The device id must end with a ":". A device independent path is obtained by passing null.

For example, "C:" and "Server/Volume:" are typical device ids.

Parameters:

device - the device id or null

Returns:

a new path

See Also:

getDevice()

toFile

public File toFile()

Returns a java.io.File corresponding to this path.

Returns:

the file corresponding to this path

toOSString

public String toOSString()

Returns a string representation of this path which uses the platform-dependent path separator defined by java.io.File. This method is like toString() except that the latter always uses the same separator (/) regardless of platform.

This string is suitable for passing to java.io.File(String).

Returns:

a platform-dependent string representation of this path

toString

public String toString()

Returns a string representation of this path, including its device id. The same separator, "/", is used on all platforms.

Example result strings (without and with device id):

 "/foo/bar.txt"
 "bar.txt"
 "/foo/"
 "foo/"
 ""
 "/"
 "C:/foo/bar.txt"
 "C:bar.txt"
 "C:/foo/"
 "C:foo/"
 "C:"
 "C:/"
 

This string is suitable for passing to Path(String).

Overrides:

toString in class Object

Returns:

a string representation of this path

See Also:

Path

uptoSegment

public IPath uptoSegment(int count)

Returns a copy of this path truncated after the given number of segments. The number must not be negative. The device id is preserved.

If this path has a trailing separator, the result will too (assuming there are some segments left). If there is no trailing separator, the result will not have a trailing separator. Copying up to segment zero simply means making an copy with no path segments.

Parameters:

count - the segment number at which to truncate the path

Returns:

the new path