org.apache.commons.collections4.iterators
Class IteratorChain<E>

java.lang.Object
  extended by org.apache.commons.collections4.iterators.IteratorChain<E>
All Implemented Interfaces:
Iterator<E>

public class IteratorChain<E>
extends Object
implements Iterator<E>

An IteratorChain is an Iterator that wraps a number of Iterators.

This class makes multiple iterators look like one to the caller. When any method from the Iterator interface is called, the IteratorChain will delegate to a single underlying Iterator. The IteratorChain will invoke the Iterators in sequence until all Iterators are exhausted.

Under many circumstances, linking Iterators together in this manner is more efficient (and convenient) than reading out the contents of each Iterator into a List and creating a new Iterator.

Calling a method that adds new Iterator after a method in the Iterator interface has been called will result in an UnsupportedOperationException.

NOTE: As from version 3.0, the IteratorChain may contain no iterators. In this case the class will function as an empty iterator.

NOTE: As from version 4.0, the IteratorChain stores the iterators in a queue and removes any reference to them as soon as they are not used anymore. Thus the methods setIterator(Iterator) and getIterators() have been removed and size() will return the number of remaining iterators in the queue.

Since:
2.1
Version:
$Id: IteratorChain.java 1482514 2013-05-14 18:36:12Z tn $

Constructor Summary
IteratorChain()
          Construct an IteratorChain with no Iterators.
IteratorChain(Collection<Iterator<? extends E>> iteratorChain)
          Constructs a new IteratorChain over the collection of iterators.
IteratorChain(Iterator<? extends E>... iteratorChain)
          Constructs a new IteratorChain over the array of iterators.
IteratorChain(Iterator<? extends E> iterator)
          Construct an IteratorChain with a single Iterator.
IteratorChain(Iterator<? extends E> first, Iterator<? extends E> second)
          Constructs a new IteratorChain over the two given iterators.
 
Method Summary
 void addIterator(Iterator<? extends E> iterator)
          Add an Iterator to the end of the chain
 boolean hasNext()
          Return true if any Iterator in the IteratorChain has a remaining element.
 boolean isLocked()
          Determine if modifications can still be made to the IteratorChain.
 E next()
          Returns the next Object of the current Iterator
 void remove()
          Removes from the underlying collection the last element returned by the Iterator.
 int size()
          Returns the remaining number of Iterators in the current IteratorChain.
protected  void updateCurrentIterator()
          Updates the current iterator field to ensure that the current Iterator is not exhausted
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait
 

Constructor Detail

IteratorChain

public IteratorChain()
Construct an IteratorChain with no Iterators.

You will normally use addIterator(Iterator) to add some iterators after using this constructor.


IteratorChain

public IteratorChain(Iterator<? extends E> iterator)
Construct an IteratorChain with a single Iterator.

This method takes one iterator. The newly constructed iterator will iterate through that iterator. Thus calling this constructor on its own will have no effect other than decorating the input iterator.

You will normally use addIterator(Iterator) to add some more iterators after using this constructor.

Parameters:
iterator - the first child iterator in the IteratorChain, not null
Throws:
NullPointerException - if the iterator is null

IteratorChain

public IteratorChain(Iterator<? extends E> first,
                     Iterator<? extends E> second)
Constructs a new IteratorChain over the two given iterators.

This method takes two iterators. The newly constructed iterator will iterate through each one of the input iterators in turn.

Parameters:
first - the first child iterator in the IteratorChain, not null
second - the second child iterator in the IteratorChain, not null
Throws:
NullPointerException - if either iterator is null

IteratorChain

public IteratorChain(Iterator<? extends E>... iteratorChain)
Constructs a new IteratorChain over the array of iterators.

This method takes an array of iterators. The newly constructed iterator will iterate through each one of the input iterators in turn.

Parameters:
iteratorChain - the array of iterators, not null
Throws:
NullPointerException - if iterators array is or contains null

IteratorChain

public IteratorChain(Collection<Iterator<? extends E>> iteratorChain)
Constructs a new IteratorChain over the collection of iterators.

This method takes a collection of iterators. The newly constructed iterator will iterate through each one of the input iterators in turn.

Parameters:
iteratorChain - the collection of iterators, not null
Throws:
NullPointerException - if iterators collection is or contains null
ClassCastException - if iterators collection doesn't contain an iterator
Method Detail

addIterator

public void addIterator(Iterator<? extends E> iterator)
Add an Iterator to the end of the chain

Parameters:
iterator - Iterator to add
Throws:
IllegalStateException - if I've already started iterating
NullPointerException - if the iterator is null

size

public int size()
Returns the remaining number of Iterators in the current IteratorChain.

Returns:
Iterator count

isLocked

public boolean isLocked()
Determine if modifications can still be made to the IteratorChain. IteratorChains cannot be modified once they have executed a method from the Iterator interface.

Returns:
true if IteratorChain cannot be modified, false if it can

updateCurrentIterator

protected void updateCurrentIterator()
Updates the current iterator field to ensure that the current Iterator is not exhausted


hasNext

public boolean hasNext()
Return true if any Iterator in the IteratorChain has a remaining element.

Specified by:
hasNext in interface Iterator<E>
Returns:
true if elements remain

next

public E next()
Returns the next Object of the current Iterator

Specified by:
next in interface Iterator<E>
Returns:
Object from the current Iterator
Throws:
NoSuchElementException - if all the Iterators are exhausted

remove

public void remove()
Removes from the underlying collection the last element returned by the Iterator. As with next() and hasNext(), this method calls remove() on the underlying Iterator. Therefore, this method may throw an UnsupportedOperationException if the underlying Iterator does not support this method.

Specified by:
remove in interface Iterator<E>
Throws:
UnsupportedOperationException - if the remove operator is not supported by the underlying Iterator
IllegalStateException - if the next method has not yet been called, or the remove method has already been called after the last call to the next method.


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