1 /*
2 * Copyright (c) 1998, 2011, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
3 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
4 *
5 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
6 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
7 * published by the Free Software Foundation. Oracle designates this
8 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
9 * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
10 *
11 * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
12 * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
13 * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
14 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
15 * accompanied this code).
16 *
17 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
18 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
19 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
20 *
21 * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
22 * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
23 * questions.
24 */
25
26 package com.sun.jdi;
27
28 import java.util.List;
29
30 /**
31 * Provides access to the class of an array and the type of
32 * its components in the target VM.
33 *
34 * @see ArrayReference
35 *
36 * @author Robert Field
37 * @author Gordon Hirsch
38 * @author James McIlree
39 * @since 1.3
40 */
41 @jdk.Supported
42 public interface ArrayType extends ReferenceType {
43
44 /**
45 * Creates a new instance of this array class in the target VM.
46 * The array is created with the given length and each component
47 * is initialized to is standard default value.
48 *
49 * @param length the number of components in the new array
50 * @return the newly created {@link ArrayReference} mirroring
51 * the new object in the target VM.
52 *
53 * @throws VMCannotBeModifiedException if the VirtualMachine is read-only - see {@link VirtualMachine#canBeModified()}.
54 */
55 ArrayReference newInstance(int length);
56
57 /**
58 * Gets the JNI signature of the components of this
59 * array class. The signature
60 * describes the declared type of the components. If the components
61 * are objects, their actual type in a particular run-time context
62 * may be a subclass of the declared class.
63 *
64 * @return a string containing the JNI signature of array components.
65 */
66 String componentSignature();
67
68 /**
69 * Returns a text representation of the component
70 * type of this array.
71 *
72 * @return a text representation of the component type.
73 */
74 String componentTypeName();
75
76 /**
77 * Returns the component type of this array,
78 * as specified in the array declaration.
79 * <P>
80 * Note: The component type of a array will always be
81 * created or loaded before the array - see
82 * <cite>The Java™ Virtual Machine Specification</cite>,
83 * section 5.3.3 - Creating Array Classes.
84 * However, although the component type will be loaded it may
85 * not yet be prepared, in which case the type will be returned
86 * but attempts to perform some operations on the returned type
87 * (e.g. {@link ReferenceType#fields() fields()}) will throw
88 * a {@link ClassNotPreparedException}.
89 * Use {@link ReferenceType#isPrepared()} to determine if
90 * a reference type is prepared.
91 *
92 * @see Type
93 * @see Field#type() Field.type() - for usage examples
94 * @return the {@link Type} of this array's components.
95 */
96 Type componentType() throws ClassNotLoadedException;
97 }