org.apache.commons.lang
Class ObjectUtils

java.lang.Object
  org.apache.commons.lang.ObjectUtils

public class ObjectUtils

extends Object

Operations on Object.

This class tries to handle null input gracefully. An exception will generally not be thrown for a null input. Each method documents its behaviour in more detail.

Since:

1.0

Version:

$Id: ObjectUtils.java,v 1.21 2003/08/22 17:25:33 ggregory Exp $

Author:

Nissim Karpenstein, Janek Bogucki, Daniel Rall, Stephen Colebourne, Gary Gregory

Nested Class Summary

static class

ObjectUtils.Null Class used as a null placeholder where null has another meaning.

Field Summary

static ObjectUtils.Null

NULL Singleton used as a null placeholder where null has another meaning.

Constructor Summary

ObjectUtils()
ObjectUtils instances should NOT be constructed in standard programming.

Method Summary

static StringBuffer	appendIdentityToString(StringBuffer buffer, Object object) Appends the toString that would be produced by Object if a class did not override toString itself.
static Object	defaultIfNull(Object object, Object defaultValue) Returns a default value if the object passed is null.
static boolean	equals(Object object1, Object object2) Compares two objects for equality, where either one or both objects may be null.
static String	identityToString(Object object) Gets the toString that would be produced by Object if a class did not override toString itself.
static String	toString(Object obj) Gets the toString of an Object returning an empty string ("") if null input.
static String	toString(Object obj, String nullStr) Gets the toString of an Object returning a specified text if null input.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Field Detail

NULL

public static final ObjectUtils.Null NULL

Singleton used as a null placeholder where null has another meaning.

For example, in a HashMap the HashMap.get(java.lang.Object) method returns null if the Map contains null or if there is no matching key. The Null placeholder can be used to distinguish between these two cases.

Another example is Hashtable, where null cannot be stored.

This instance is Serializable.

Constructor Detail

ObjectUtils

public ObjectUtils()

ObjectUtils instances should NOT be constructed in standard programming. Instead, the class should be used as ObjectUtils.defaultIfNull("a","b");.

This constructor is public to permit tools that require a JavaBean instance to operate.

Method Detail

defaultIfNull

public static Object defaultIfNull(Object object,
                                   Object defaultValue)

Returns a default value if the object passed is null.

 ObjectUtils.defaultIfNull(null, null)      = null
 ObjectUtils.defaultIfNull(null, "")        = ""
 ObjectUtils.defaultIfNull(null, "zz")      = "zz"
 ObjectUtils.defaultIfNull("abc", *)        = "abc"
 ObjectUtils.defaultIfNull(Boolean.TRUE, *) = Boolean.TRUE
 

Parameters:

object - the Object to test, may be null

defaultValue - the default value to return, may be null

Returns:

object if it is not null, defaultValue otherwise

equals

public static boolean equals(Object object1,
                             Object object2)

Compares two objects for equality, where either one or both objects may be null.

 ObjectUtils.equals(null, null)                  = true
 ObjectUtils.equals(null, "")                    = false
 ObjectUtils.equals("", null)                    = false
 ObjectUtils.equals("", "")                      = true
 ObjectUtils.equals(Boolean.TRUE, null)          = false
 ObjectUtils.equals(Boolean.TRUE, "true")        = false
 ObjectUtils.equals(Boolean.TRUE, Boolean.TRUE)  = true
 ObjectUtils.equals(Boolean.TRUE, Boolean.FALSE) = false
 

Parameters:

object1 - the first object, may be null

object2 - the second object, may be null

Returns:

true if the values of both objects are the same

identityToString

public static String identityToString(Object object)

Gets the toString that would be produced by Object if a class did not override toString itself. null will return null.

 ObjectUtils.identityToString(null)         = null
 ObjectUtils.identityToString("")           = "java.lang.String@1e23"
 ObjectUtils.identityToString(Boolean.TRUE) = "java.lang.Boolean@7fa"
 

Parameters:

object - the object to create a toString for, may be null

Returns:

the default toString text, or null if null passed in

appendIdentityToString

public static StringBuffer appendIdentityToString(StringBuffer buffer,
                                                  Object object)

Appends the toString that would be produced by Object if a class did not override toString itself. null will return null.

 ObjectUtils.appendIdentityToString(*, null)            = null
 ObjectUtils.appendIdentityToString(null, "")           = "java.lang.String@1e23"
 ObjectUtils.appendIdentityToString(null, Boolean.TRUE) = "java.lang.Boolean@7fa"
 ObjectUtils.appendIdentityToString(buf, Boolean.TRUE)  = buf.append("java.lang.Boolean@7fa")
 

Parameters:

buffer - the buffer to append to, may be null

object - the object to create a toString for, may be null

Returns:

the default toString text, or null if null passed in

Since:

2.0

toString

public static String toString(Object obj)

Gets the toString of an Object returning an empty string ("") if null input.

 ObjectUtils.toString(null)         = ""
 ObjectUtils.toString("")           = ""
 ObjectUtils.toString("bat")        = "bat"
 ObjectUtils.toString(Boolean.TRUE) = "true"
 

Parameters:

obj - the Object to toString, may be null

Returns:

the passed in Object's toString, or nullStr if null input

Since:

2.0

See Also:

StringUtils.defaultString(String), String.valueOf(Object)

toString

public static String toString(Object obj,
                              String nullStr)

Gets the toString of an Object returning a specified text if null input.

 ObjectUtils.toString(null, null)           = null
 ObjectUtils.toString(null, "null")         = "null"
 ObjectUtils.toString("", "null")           = ""
 ObjectUtils.toString("bat", "null")        = "bat"
 ObjectUtils.toString(Boolean.TRUE, "null") = "true"
 

Parameters:

obj - the Object to toString, may be null

nullStr - the String to return if null input, may be null

Returns:

the passed in Object's toString, or nullStr if null input

Since:

2.0

See Also:

StringUtils.defaultString(String,String), String.valueOf(Object)