Format

Class Overview

The base class for all formats.

This is an abstract base class which specifies the protocol for classes which convert other objects or values, such as numeric values and dates, and their string representations. In some cases these representations may be localized or contain localized characters or strings. For example, a numeric formatter such as DecimalFormat may convert a numeric value such as 12345 to the string "$12,345". It may also parse the string back into a numeric value. A date and time formatter like SimpleDateFormat may represent a specific date, encoded numerically, as a string such as "Wednesday, February 26, 1997 AD".

Many of the concrete subclasses of Format employ the notion of a pattern. A pattern is a string representation of the rules which govern the conversion between values and strings. For example, a DecimalFormat object may be associated with the pattern "$#,##0.00;($#,##0.00)", which is a common US English format for currency values, yielding strings such as "$1,234.45" for 1234.45, and "($987.65)" for -987.6543. The specific syntax of a pattern is defined by each subclass. Even though many subclasses use patterns, the notion of a pattern is not inherent to Format classes in general, and is not part of the explicit base class protocol.

Two complex formatting classes are worth mentioning: MessageFormat and ChoiceFormat. ChoiceFormat is a subclass of NumberFormat which allows the user to format different number ranges as strings. For instance, 0 may be represented as "no files", 1 as "one file", and any number greater than 1 as "many files". MessageFormat is a formatter which utilizes other Format objects to format a string containing multiple values. For instance, a MessageFormat object might produce the string "There are no files on the disk MyDisk on February 27, 1997." given the arguments 0, "MyDisk", and the date value of 2/27/97. See the ChoiceFormat and MessageFormat descriptions for further information.

Summary

[Expand] Inherited Methods

From class java.lang.Object Object clone() Creates and returns a copy of this Object. boolean equals(Object o) Compares this instance with the specified object and indicates if they are equal. void finalize() Invoked when the garbage collector has detected that this instance is no longer reachable. final Class<?> getClass() Returns the unique instance of Class that represents this object's class. int hashCode() Returns an integer hash code for this object. final void notify() Causes a thread which is waiting on this object's monitor (by means of calling one of the wait() methods) to be woken up. final void notifyAll() Causes all threads which are waiting on this object's monitor (by means of calling one of the wait() methods) to be woken up. String toString() Returns a string containing a concise, human-readable description of this object. final void wait() Causes the calling thread to wait until another thread calls the notify() or notifyAll() method of this object. final void wait(long millis, int nanos) Causes the calling thread to wait until another thread calls the notify() or notifyAll() method of this object or until the specified timeout expires. final void wait(long millis) Causes the calling thread to wait until another thread calls the notify() or notifyAll() method of this object or until the specified timeout expires.