Java Platform 1.2
Beta 4

Interface java.util.SortedMap

All Known Implementing Classes:
TreeMap

public abstract interface SortedMap
extends Map
A Map that further guarantees that it will be in ascending key order, sorted according to the natural ordering of its keys (see Comparable), or by a Comparator provided at SortedMap creation time. This order is reflected when iterating over the SortedMap's Collection views (returned by the entrySet, keySet and values methods). Several additional operations are provided to take advantage of the ordering. (This interface is the Map analogue of SortedSet.)

All keys inserted into an SortedMap must implement the Comparable interface (or be accepted by the specified Comparator). Furthermore, all such keys must be mutually comparable: k1.compareTo(k2) (or comparator.compare(k1, k2)) must not throw a typeMismatchException for any elements k1 and k2 in the SortedMap. Attempts to violate this restriction will cause the offending method or constructor invocation to throw a ClassCastException.

Note that the ordering maintained by a SortedMap (whether or not an explicit Comparator is provided) must be total if the SortedMap is to correctly implement the Map interface. (See Comparable or Comparator for a definition of total ordering.) This is so because the Map interface is defined in terms of the equals operation, but a SortedMap performs all key comparisons using its compareTo (or compare) method, so two keys that are deemed equal by this method are, from the standpoint of the SortedMap, equal. The behavior of a TreeMap is well-defined even if its ordering is strictly partial; it just fails to obey the general contract of the Map interface.

All general-purpose SortedMap implementation classes should provide four "standard" constructors: 1) A void (no arguments) constructor, which creates an empty SortedMap sorted according to the natural order of its keys. 2) A constructor with a single argument of type Comparator, which creates an empty SortedMap sorted according to the specified Comparator. 3) A constructor with a single argument of type Map, which creates a new Map with the same key-value mappings as its argument, sorted according to the keys' natural ordering. 4) A constructor with a single argument of type SortedMap, which creates a new SortedMap with the same key-value mappings and the same ordering as the input SortedMap. There is no way to enforce this recommendation (as interfaces cannot contain constructors) but the JDK implementation (TreeMap) complies.

Since:
JDK1.2
See Also:
Map, TreeMap, SortedSet, Comparator, Comparable, Collection, ClassCastException

Inner classes inherited from class java.util.Map
Map.Entry
 
Method Summary
 Comparator comparator()
          Returns the Comparator associated with this SortedMap, or null if it uses its keys' natural ordering.
 Object firstKey()
          Returns the first (lowest) key currently in this SortedMap.
 SortedMap headMap(Object toKey)
          Returns a view of the portion of this SortedMap whose keys are strictly less than toKey.
 Object lastKey()
          Returns the last (highest) key currently in this SortedMap.
 SortedMap subMap(Object fromKey, Object toKey)
          Returns a view of the portion of this SortedMap whose keys range from fromKey, inclusive, to toKey, exclusive.
 SortedMap tailMap(Object fromKey)
          Returns a view of the portion of this SortedMap whose keys are greater than or equal to fromKey.
 
Methods inherited from interface java.util.Map
clear , containsKey , containsValue , entrySet , equals , get , hashCode , isEmpty , keySet , put , putAll , remove , size , values
 

Method Detail

comparator

public Comparator comparator()
Returns the Comparator associated with this SortedMap, or null if it uses its keys' natural ordering.
Returns:
the Comparator associated with this SortedMap, or null if it uses its keys' natural ordering.

subMap

public SortedMap subMap(Object fromKey,
                        Object toKey)
Returns a view of the portion of this SortedMap whose keys range from fromKey, inclusive, to toKey, exclusive. The returned SortedMap is backed by this SortedMap, so changes in the returned SortedMap are reflected in this SortedMap, and vice-versa. The returned Map supports all optional Map operations.

The Map returned by this method will throw an IllegalArgumentException if the user attempts to insert a key outside the specified range.

Note: this method always returns a half-open range (which includes its low endpoint but not its high endpoint). If you need a closed range (which includes both endpoints), and the key type allows for calculation of the successor a given key, merely request the subrange from lowEndpoint to successor(highEndpoint). For example, suppose that m is a Map whose keys are Strings. The following idiom obtains a view containing all of the key-value mappings in m whose keys are between low and high, inclusive:

    Map sub = m.subMap(low, high+"\0");
A similarly technique can be used to generate an open range (which contains neither endpoint). The following idiom obtains a view containing all of the key-value mappings in m whose keys are between low and high, exclusive:
    Map sub = m.subMap(low+"\0", high);
Parameters:
fromKey - low endpoint (inclusive) of the subMap.
toKey - high endpoint (exclusive) of the subMap.
Returns:
a view of the specified range within this SortedMap.
Throws:
ClassCastException - fromKey or toKey cannot be compared with the keys currently in the SortedMap. (Implementations may, but are not required to, throw this exception under these circumstances.)
NullPointerException - fromKey or toKey is null and this SortedMap does not tolerate null keys.
IllegalArgumentException - fromKey is greater than toKey.

headMap

public SortedMap headMap(Object toKey)
Returns a view of the portion of this SortedMap whose keys are strictly less than toKey. The returned SortedMap is backed by this SortedMap, so changes in the returned SortedMap are reflected in this SortedMap, and vice-versa. The returned Map supports all optional Map operations.

The Map returned by this method will throw an IllegalArgumentException if the user attempts to insert a key outside the specified range.

Note: this method always returns a view that does not contain its (high) endpoint. If you need a view that does contain this endpoint, and the key type allows for calculation of the successor a given key, merely request a headMap bounded by successor(highEndpoint). For example, suppose that suppose that m is a Map whose keys are Strings. The following idiom obtains a view containing all of the key-value mappings in m whose keys are less than or equal to high:

    Map head = m.headMap(high+"\0");
Parameters:
toKey - high endpoint (exclusive) of the subMap.
Returns:
a view of the specified initial range of this SortedMap.
Throws:
ClassCastException - toKey cannot be compared with the keys currently in the SortedMap. (Implementations may, but are not required to, throw this exception under these circumstances.)
NullPointerException - toKey is null and this SortedMap does not tolerate null keys.

tailMap

public SortedMap tailMap(Object fromKey)
Returns a view of the portion of this SortedMap whose keys are greater than or equal to fromKey. The returned SortedMap is backed by this SortedMap, so changes in the returned SortedMap are reflected in this SortedMap, and vice-versa. The returned Map supports all optional Map operations.

The Map returned by this method will throw an IllegalArgumentException if the user attempts to insert a key outside the specified range.

Note: this method always returns a view that contains its (low) endpoint. If you need a view that does not contain this endpoint, and the element type allows for calculation of the successor a given value, merely request a tailMap bounded by successor(lowEndpoint). For For example, suppose that suppose that m is a Map whose keys are Strings. The following idiom obtains a view containing all of the key-value mappings in m whose keys are strictly greater than low:

    Map tail = m.tailMap(low+"\0");
Parameters:
fromKey - low endpoint (inclusive) of the tailMap.
Returns:
a view of the specified final range of this SortedMap.
Throws:
ClassCastException - fromKey cannot be compared with the keys currently in the SortedMap. (Implementations may, but are not required to, throw this exception under these circumstances.)
NullPointerException - fromKey is null and this SortedMap does not tolerate null keys.

firstKey

public Object firstKey()
Returns the first (lowest) key currently in this SortedMap.
Returns:
the first (lowest) key currently in this SortedMap.
Throws:
IllegalStateException - Map is empty.

lastKey

public Object lastKey()
Returns the last (highest) key currently in this SortedMap.
Returns:
the last (highest) key currently in this SortedMap.
Throws:
IllegalStateException - Map is empty.

Java Platform 1.2
Beta 4

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