Class Method

java.lang.Object
java.lang.reflect.AccessibleObject
java.lang.reflect.Executable
java.lang.reflect.Method
All Implemented Interfaces:
AnnotatedElement,GenericDeclaration,Member
public final classMethodextendsExecutable
AMethod provides information about, and access to, a single methodon a class or interface. The reflected method may be a class methodor an instance method (including an abstract method).

AMethod permits widening conversions to occur when matching theactual parameters to invoke with the underlying method's formalparameters, but it throws anIllegalArgumentException if anarrowing conversion would occur.

Since:
1.1
See Also:

  • Method Details

    • setAccessible

      public void setAccessible(boolean flag)
      Description copied from class: AccessibleObject
      Set theaccessible flag for this reflected object tothe indicated boolean value. A value oftrue indicates thatthe reflected object should suppress checks for Java language accesscontrol when it is used. A value offalse indicates thatthe reflected object should enforce checks for Java language accesscontrol when it is used, with the variation noted in the class description.

      This method may be used by a caller in classC to enableaccess to amember ofdeclaring classD if any of the following hold:

      • C andD are in the same module.
      • The member ispublic andD ispublic in a package that the module containingDexports to at least the module containingC.
      • The member isprotectedstatic,D ispublic in a package that the module containingD exports to at least the module containingC, andC is a subclass ofD.
      • D is in a package that the module containingDopens to at least the module containingC. All packages in unnamed and open modules are open to all modules and so this method always succeeds whenD is in an unnamed or open module.

      This method may be used byJNI codewith no caller class on the stack to enable access to amemberofdeclaring classD if and only if:

      • The member ispublic andD ispublic in a package that the module containingDexports unconditionally.

      This method cannot be used to enable access to private members,members with default (package) access, protected instance members, orprotected constructors when the declaring class is in a different moduleto the caller and the package containing the declaring class is not opento the caller's module.

      This method cannot be used to enablewriteaccess to anon-modifiable final field. The following fieldsare non-modifiable:

      • static final fields declared in any class or interface
      • final fields declared in ahidden class
      • final fields declared in arecord

      Theaccessible flag whentrue suppresses Java language accesscontrol checks to only enableread access tothese non-modifiable final fields.

      Overrides:
      setAccessible in class AccessibleObject
      Parameters:
      flag - the new value for theaccessible flag
      Throws:
      InaccessibleObjectException - if access cannot be enabled
      External Specifications
      See Also:

    • getDeclaringClass

      public Class<?> getDeclaringClass()
      Returns theClass object representing the class or interfacethat declares the method represented by this object.
      Specified by:
      getDeclaringClass in interface Member
      Specified by:
      getDeclaringClass in class Executable
      Returns:
      an object representing the declaring class of theunderlying member

    • getName

      public String getName()
      Returns the name of the method represented by thisMethodobject, as aString.
      Specified by:
      getName in interface Member
      Specified by:
      getName in class Executable
      Returns:
      the simple name of the underlying member

    • getModifiers

      public int getModifiers()
      Returns the Java languagemodifiers forthe executable represented by this object.
      Specified by:
      getModifiers in interface Member
      Specified by:
      getModifiers in class Executable
      Returns:
      the Java languagemodifiers forthe executable represented by this object
      SeeJava Language Specification:
      8.4.3 Method Modifiers
      See Also:

    • getTypeParameters

      public TypeVariable<Method>[] getTypeParameters()
      Returns an array ofTypeVariable objects that represent thetype variables declared by the generic declaration represented by thisGenericDeclaration object, in declaration order. Returns anarray of length 0 if the underlying generic declaration declares no typevariables.
      Specified by:
      getTypeParameters in interface GenericDeclaration
      Specified by:
      getTypeParameters in class Executable
      Returns:
      an array ofTypeVariable objects that represent the type variables declared by this generic declaration
      Throws:
      GenericSignatureFormatError - if the generic signature of this generic declaration does not conform to the format specified inThe Java Virtual Machine Specification
      SeeJava Language Specification:
      8.4.4 Generic Methods
      Since:
      1.5

    • getReturnType

      public Class<?> getReturnType()
      Returns aClass object that represents the formal return typeof the method represented by thisMethod object.
      Returns:
      the return type for the method this object represents

    • getGenericReturnType

      public Type getGenericReturnType()
      Returns aType object that represents the formal returntype of the method represented by thisMethod object.

      If the return type is a parameterized type,theType object returned must accurately reflectthe actual type arguments used in the source code.

      If the return type is a type variable or a parameterized type, itis created. Otherwise, it is resolved.

      Returns:
      aType object that represents the formal return type of the underlying method
      Throws:
      GenericSignatureFormatError - if the generic method signature does not conform to the format specified inThe Java Virtual Machine Specification
      TypeNotPresentException - if the underlying method's return type refers to a non-existent class or interface declaration
      MalformedParameterizedTypeException - if the underlying method's return type refers to a parameterized type that cannot be instantiated for any reason
      Since:
      1.5

    • getParameterTypes

      public Class<?>[] getParameterTypes()
      Returns an array ofClass objects that represent the formalparameter types, in declaration order, of the executablerepresented by this object. Returns an array of length0 if the underlying executable takes no parameters.Note that the constructors of some inner classesmay have animplicitly declared parameter in addition to explicitlydeclared ones.Also note that compact constructors of a record class may haveimplicitly declared parameters.
      Specified by:
      getParameterTypes in class Executable
      Returns:
      the parameter types for the executable this objectrepresents

    • getParameterCount

      public int getParameterCount()
      Returns the number of formal parameters (whether explicitlydeclared or implicitly declared or neither) for the executablerepresented by this object.
      Specified by:
      getParameterCount in class Executable
      Returns:
      The number of formal parameters for the executable thisobject represents
      Since:
      1.8

    • getGenericParameterTypes

      public Type[] getGenericParameterTypes()
      Returns an array ofType objects that represent theformal parameter types, in declaration order, of the executablerepresented by this object. An array of length 0 is returned if theunderlying executable takes no parameters. Note that theconstructors of some inner classes may have an implicitlydeclared parameter in addition to explicitly declared ones.Compact constructors of a record class may also haveimplicitly declared parameters,but they are a special case and thus considered as if they hadbeen explicitly declared in the source.Finally note that as amodeling artifact, the number of returned parameters can differdepending on whether or not generic information is present. Ifgeneric information is present, parameters explicitlypresent in the source or parameters of compact constructorsof a record class will be returned.Note that parameters of compact constructors of a record class are a special case,as they are not explicitly present in the source, and its type will be returnedregardless of the parameters beingimplicitly declared or not.If generic information is not present, implicit and synthetic parameters may bereturned as well.

      If a formal parameter type is a parameterized type,theType object returned for it must accurately reflectthe actual type arguments used in the source code. This assertion alsoapplies to the parameters of compact constructors of a record class,independently of them beingimplicitly declared or not.

      If a formal parameter type is a type variable or a parameterizedtype, it is created. Otherwise, it is resolved.

      Overrides:
      getGenericParameterTypes in class Executable
      Returns:
      an array ofTypes that represent the formal parameter types of the underlying executable, in declaration order
      Throws:
      GenericSignatureFormatError - if the generic method signature does not conform to the format specified inThe Java Virtual Machine Specification
      TypeNotPresentException - if any of the parameter types of the underlying executable refers to a non-existent type declaration
      MalformedParameterizedTypeException - if any of the underlying executable's parameter types refer to a parameterized type that cannot be instantiated for any reason
      Since:
      1.5

    • getExceptionTypes

      public Class<?>[] getExceptionTypes()
      Returns an array ofClass objects that represent thetypes of exceptions declared to be thrown by the underlyingexecutable represented by this object. Returns an array oflength 0 if the executable declares no exceptions in itsthrows clause.
      Specified by:
      getExceptionTypes in class Executable
      Returns:
      the exception types declared as being thrown by theexecutable this object represents

    • getGenericExceptionTypes

      public Type[] getGenericExceptionTypes()
      Returns an array ofType objects that represent theexceptions declared to be thrown by this executable object.Returns an array of length 0 if the underlying executable declaresno exceptions in itsthrows clause.

      If an exception type is a type variable or a parameterizedtype, it is created. Otherwise, it is resolved.

      Overrides:
      getGenericExceptionTypes in class Executable
      Returns:
      an array of Types that represent the exception types thrown by the underlying executable
      Throws:
      GenericSignatureFormatError - if the generic method signature does not conform to the format specified inThe Java Virtual Machine Specification
      TypeNotPresentException - if the underlying executable'sthrows clause refers to a non-existent type declaration
      MalformedParameterizedTypeException - if the underlying executable'sthrows clause refers to a parameterized type that cannot be instantiated for any reason
      Since:
      1.5

    • equals

      public boolean equals(Object obj)
      Compares thisMethod against the specified object. Returnstrue if the objects are the same. TwoMethods are the same ifthey were declared by the same class and have the same nameand formal parameter types and return type.
      Overrides:
      equals in class Object
      Parameters:
      obj - the reference object with which to compare.
      Returns:
      true if this object is the same as the obj argument;false otherwise.
      See Also:

    • hashCode

      public int hashCode()
      Returns a hashcode for thisMethod. The hashcode is computedas the exclusive-or of the hashcodes for the underlyingmethod's declaring class name and the method's name.
      Overrides:
      hashCode in class Object
      Returns:
      a hash code value for this object
      See Also:

    • toString

      public String toString()
      Returns a string describing thisMethod. The string isformatted as the method access modifiers, if any, followed bythe method return type, followed by a space, followed by theclass declaring the method, followed by a period, followed bythe method name, followed by a parenthesized, comma-separatedlist of the method's formal parameter types. If the methodthrows checked exceptions, the parameter list is followed by aspace, followed by the word "throws" followed by acomma-separated list of the thrown exception types.For example:
         public boolean java.lang.Object.equals(java.lang.Object)

      The access modifiers are placed in canonical order asspecified by "The Java Language Specification". This ispublic,protected orprivate first,and then other modifiers in the following order:abstract,default,static,final,synchronized,native,strictfp.

      Overrides:
      toString in class Object
      Returns:
      a string describing thisMethod
      SeeJava Language Specification:
      8.4.3 Method Modifiers
      9.4 Method Declarations
      9.6.1 Annotation Interface Elements

    • toGenericString

      public String toGenericString()
      Returns a string describing thisMethod, including typeparameters. The string is formatted as the method accessmodifiers, if any, followed by an angle-bracketedcomma-separated list of the method's type parameters, if any,including informative bounds of the type parameters, if any,followed by the method's generic return type, followed by aspace, followed by the class declaring the method, followed bya period, followed by the method name, followed by aparenthesized, comma-separated list of the method's genericformal parameter types.If this method was declared to take a variable number ofarguments, instead of denoting the last parameter as"Type[]", it is denoted as"Type...".A space is used to separate access modifiers from one anotherand from the type parameters or return type. If there are notype parameters, the type parameter list is elided; if the typeparameter list is present, a space separates the list from theclass name. If the method is declared to throw exceptions, theparameter list is followed by a space, followed by the word"throws" followed by a comma-separated list of the genericthrown exception types.

      The access modifiers are placed in canonical order asspecified by "The Java Language Specification". This ispublic,protected orprivate first,and then other modifiers in the following order:abstract,default,static,final,synchronized,native,strictfp.

      Specified by:
      toGenericString in class Executable
      Returns:
      a string describing thisMethod,include type parameters
      SeeJava Language Specification:
      8.4.3 Method Modifiers
      9.4 Method Declarations
      9.6.1 Annotation Interface Elements
      Since:
      1.5

    • invoke

      Invokes the underlying method represented by thisMethodobject, on the specified object with the specified parameters.Individual parameters are automatically unwrapped to matchprimitive formal parameters, and both primitive and referenceparameters are subject to method invocation conversions asnecessary.

      If the underlying method is static, then the specifiedobjargument is ignored. It may be null.

      If the number of formal parameters required by the underlying method is0, the suppliedargs array may be of length 0 or null.

      If the underlying method is an instance method, it is invokedusing dynamic method lookup as documented in The Java LanguageSpecification, section15.12.4.4; in particular,overriding based on the runtime type of the target object may occur.

      If the underlying method is static, the class that declaredthe method is initialized if it has not already been initialized.

      If the method completes normally, the value it returns isreturned to the caller of invoke; if the value has a primitivetype, it is first appropriately wrapped in an object. However,if the value has the type of an array of a primitive type, theelements of the array arenot wrapped in objects; inother words, an array of primitive type is returned. If theunderlying method return type is void, the invocation returnsnull.

      Parameters:
      obj - the object the underlying method is invoked from
      args - the arguments used for the method call
      Returns:
      the result of dispatching the method represented bythis object onobj with parametersargs
      Throws:
      IllegalAccessException - if thisMethod object is enforcing Java language access control and the underlying method is inaccessible.
      IllegalArgumentException - if the method is an instance method and the specified object argument is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying method (or of a subclass or implementor thereof); if the number of actual and formal parameters differ; if an unwrapping conversion for primitive arguments fails; or if, after possible unwrapping, a parameter value cannot be converted to the corresponding formal parameter type by a method invocation conversion.
      InvocationTargetException - if the underlying method throws an exception.
      NullPointerException - if the specified object is null and the method is an instance method.
      ExceptionInInitializerError - if the initializationprovoked by this method fails.

    • isBridge

      public boolean isBridge()
      Returnstrue if this method is a bridgemethod; returnsfalse otherwise.
      API Note:
      A bridge method is asynthetic methodcreated by a Java compiler alongside a method originating fromthe source code. Bridge methods are used by Java compilers invarious circumstances to span differences in Java programminglanguage semantics and JVM semantics.

      One example use of bridge methods is as a technique for aJava compiler to supportcovariant overrides, where asubclass overrides a method and gives the new method a morespecific return type than the method in the superclass. Whilethe Java language specification forbids a class declaring twomethods with the same parameter types but a different returntype, the virtual machine does not. A common case wherecovariant overrides are used is for aCloneable class where theclone method inherited fromjava.lang.Object is overridden and declared to return the typeof the class. For example,Object declares

      protected Object clone() throws CloneNotSupportedException {...}
      andEnumSet<E> declares its language-levelcovariant override
      public EnumSet<E> clone() {...}
      If this technique was being used, the resulting class file forEnumSet would have twoclone methods, onereturningEnumSet<E> and the second a bridge methodreturningObject. The bridge method is a JVM-leveloverride ofObject.clone(). The body of theclone bridge method calls its non-bridge counterpart andreturns its result.

      Returns:
      true if this method is a bridgemethod; returnsfalse otherwise
      SeeJava Language Specification:
      8.4.8.3 Requirements in Overriding and Hiding
      15.12.4.5 Create Frame, Synchronize, Transfer Control
      SeeJava Virtual Machine Specification:
      4.6 Methods
      Since:
      1.5
      See Also:

    • isVarArgs

      public boolean isVarArgs()
      Returnstrue if this executable was declared to take avariable number of arguments; returnsfalse otherwise.
      Overrides:
      isVarArgs in class Executable
      Returns:
      true if this executable was declared to take avariable number of arguments; returnsfalse otherwise
      SeeJava Language Specification:
      8.4.1 Formal Parameters
      Since:
      1.5

    • isSynthetic

      public boolean isSynthetic()
      Returnstrue if this executable is a syntheticconstruct; returnsfalse otherwise.
      Specified by:
      isSynthetic in interface Member
      Overrides:
      isSynthetic in class Executable
      Returns:
      true if and only if this executable is a syntheticconstruct as defined byThe Java Language Specification.
      SeeJava Language Specification:
      13.1 The Form of a Binary
      SeeJava Virtual Machine Specification:
      4.6 Methods
      Since:
      1.5
      See Also:

    • isDefault

      public boolean isDefault()
      Returnstrue if this method is a defaultmethod; returnsfalse otherwise.A default method is a public non-abstract instance method, thatis, a non-static method with a body, declared in an interface.
      Returns:
      true if and only if this method is a defaultmethod as defined by the Java Language Specification.
      SeeJava Language Specification:
      9.4 Method Declarations
      Since:
      1.8

    • getDefaultValue

      public Object getDefaultValue()
      Returns the default value for the annotation member represented bythisMethod instance. If the member is of a primitive type,an instance of the corresponding wrapper type is returned. Returnsnull if no default is associated with the member, or if the methodinstance does not represent a declared member of an annotation type.
      Returns:
      the default value for the annotation member represented by thisMethod instance.
      Throws:
      TypeNotPresentException - if the annotation is of typeClass and no definition can be found for the default class value.
      SeeJava Language Specification:
      9.6.2 Defaults for Annotation Interface Elements
      Since:
      1.5

    • getAnnotation

      public <T extendsAnnotation> T getAnnotation(Class<T> annotationClass)
      Returns this element's annotation for the specified type ifsuch an annotation ispresent, else null.

      Note that any annotation returned by this method is adeclaration annotation.

      Specified by:
      getAnnotation in interface AnnotatedElement
      Overrides:
      getAnnotation in class Executable
      Type Parameters:
      T - the type of the annotation to query for and return if present
      Parameters:
      annotationClass - the Class object corresponding to the annotation type
      Returns:
      this element's annotation for the specified annotation type if present on this element, else null
      Throws:
      NullPointerException - if the given annotation class is null
      Since:
      1.5

    • getDeclaredAnnotations

      public Annotation[] getDeclaredAnnotations()
      Returns annotations that aredirectly present on this element.This method ignores inherited annotations.If there are no annotationsdirectly present on this element,the return value is an array of length 0.The caller of this method is free to modify the returned array; it willhave no effect on the arrays returned to other callers.

      Note that any annotations returned by this method aredeclaration annotations.

      Specified by:
      getDeclaredAnnotations in interface AnnotatedElement
      Overrides:
      getDeclaredAnnotations in class AccessibleObject
      Returns:
      annotations directly present on this element
      Since:
      1.5

    • getParameterAnnotations

      public Annotation[][] getParameterAnnotations()
      Returns an array of arrays ofAnnotations thatrepresent the annotations on the formal parameters, indeclaration order, of theExecutable represented bythis object. Synthetic and mandated parameters (seeexplanation below), such as the outer "this" parameter to aninner class constructor will be represented in the returnedarray. If the executable has no parameters (meaning no formal,no synthetic, and no mandated parameters), a zero-length arraywill be returned. If theExecutable has one or moreparameters, a nested array of length zero is returned for eachparameter with no annotations. The annotation objects containedin the returned arrays are serializable. The caller of thismethod is free to modify the returned arrays; it will have noeffect on the arrays returned to other callers.A compiler may add extra parameters that are implicitlydeclared in source ("mandated"), as well as parameters thatare neither implicitly nor explicitly declared in source("synthetic") to the parameter list for a method. SeeParameter for more information.

      Note that any annotations returned by this method aredeclaration annotations.

      Specified by:
      getParameterAnnotations in class Executable
      Returns:
      an array of arrays that represent the annotations on the formal and implicit parameters, in declaration order, of the executable represented by this object
      Since:
      1.5
      See Also:

    • getAnnotatedReturnType

      public AnnotatedType getAnnotatedReturnType()
      Returns anAnnotatedType object that represents the use of a type tospecify the return type of the method/constructor represented by thisExecutable.If thisExecutable object represents a constructor, theAnnotatedType object represents the type of the constructed object.If thisExecutable object represents a method, theAnnotatedType object represents the use of a type to specify the returntype of the method.
      Specified by:
      getAnnotatedReturnType in class Executable
      Returns:
      an object representing the return type of the methodor constructor represented by thisExecutable
      Since:
      1.8