Interface Element

All Known Implementing Classes:: AbstractDocument.AbstractElement, AbstractDocument.BranchElement, AbstractDocument.LeafElement, DefaultStyledDocument.SectionElement, HTMLDocument.BlockElement, HTMLDocument.RunElement

public interface Element

Interface to describe a structural piece of a document. It is intended to capture the spirit of an SGML element.

Method Summary

All Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods
Modifier and Type	Method	Description
`AttributeSet`	`getAttributes()`	Fetches the collection of attributes this element contains.
`Document`	`getDocument()`	Fetches the document associated with this element.
`Element`	`getElement(int index)`	Fetches the child element at the given index.
`int`	`getElementCount()`	Gets the number of child elements contained by this element.
`int`	`getElementIndex(int offset)`	Gets the child element index closest to the given offset.
`int`	`getEndOffset()`	Fetches the offset from the beginning of the document that this element ends at.
`String`	`getName()`	Fetches the name of the element.
`Element`	`getParentElement()`	Fetches the parent element.
`int`	`getStartOffset()`	Fetches the offset from the beginning of the document that this element begins at.
`boolean`	`isLeaf()`	Is this element a leaf element?

Method Detail

getDocument

Document getDocument()

Fetches the document associated with this element.

Returns:: the document

getParentElement

Element getParentElement()

Fetches the parent element. If the element is a root level element returns null.

Returns:: the parent element

getName

String getName()

Fetches the name of the element. If the element is used to represent some type of structure, this would be the type name.

Returns:: the element name

getAttributes

AttributeSet getAttributes()

Fetches the collection of attributes this element contains.

Returns:: the attributes for the element

getStartOffset

int getStartOffset()

Fetches the offset from the beginning of the document that this element begins at. If this element has children, this will be the offset of the first child. As a document position, there is an implied forward bias.

Returns:: the starting offset >= 0 and < getEndOffset();
See Also:: Document, AbstractDocument

getEndOffset

int getEndOffset()

Fetches the offset from the beginning of the document that this element ends at. If this element has children, this will be the end offset of the last child. As a document position, there is an implied backward bias.

All the default Document implementations descend from AbstractDocument. AbstractDocument models an implied break at the end of the document. As a result of this, it is possible for this to return a value greater than the length of the document.

Returns:: the ending offset > getStartOffset() and <= getDocument().getLength() + 1
See Also:: Document, AbstractDocument

getElementIndex

int getElementIndex(int offset)

Gets the child element index closest to the given offset. The offset is specified relative to the beginning of the document. Returns -1 if the Element is a leaf, otherwise returns the index of the Element that best represents the given location. Returns 0 if the location is less than the start offset. Returns getElementCount() - 1 if the location is greater than or equal to the end offset.

Parameters:: offset - the specified offset >= 0
Returns:: the element index >= 0

getElementCount

int getElementCount()

Gets the number of child elements contained by this element. If this element is a leaf, a count of zero is returned.

Returns:: the number of child elements >= 0

getElement

Element getElement(int index)

Fetches the child element at the given index.

Parameters:: index - the specified index >= 0
Returns:: the child element

isLeaf

boolean isLeaf()

Is this element a leaf element? An element that may have children, even if it currently has no children, would return false.

Returns:: true if a leaf element else false