/*
 * Copyright (c) 1994, 2005, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
 *
 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
 * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Oracle designates this
 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
 * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
 *
 * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
 * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
 * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
 * accompanied this code).
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 *
 * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
 * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
 * questions.
 */

package java.util;

An object that implements the Enumeration interface generates a series of elements, one at a time. Successive calls to the nextElement method return successive elements of the series.

For example, to print all elements of a Vector<E> v:

  for (Enumeration<E> e = v.elements(); e.hasMoreElements();)
      System.out.println(e.nextElement());

Methods are provided to enumerate through the elements of a vector, the keys of a hashtable, and the values in a hashtable. Enumerations are also used to specify the input streams to a SequenceInputStream.

NOTE: The functionality of this interface is duplicated by the Iterator interface. In addition, Iterator adds an optional remove operation, and has shorter method names. New implementations should consider using Iterator in preference to Enumeration.

Author: Lee Boynton
See Also:
Since: JDK1.0
/** * An object that implements the Enumeration interface generates a * series of elements, one at a time. Successive calls to the * <code>nextElement</code> method return successive elements of the * series. * <p> * For example, to print all elements of a <tt>Vector&lt;E&gt;</tt> <i>v</i>: * <pre> * for (Enumeration&lt;E&gt; e = v.elements(); e.hasMoreElements();) * System.out.println(e.nextElement());</pre> * <p> * Methods are provided to enumerate through the elements of a * vector, the keys of a hashtable, and the values in a hashtable. * Enumerations are also used to specify the input streams to a * <code>SequenceInputStream</code>. * <p> * NOTE: The functionality of this interface is duplicated by the Iterator * interface. In addition, Iterator adds an optional remove operation, and * has shorter method names. New implementations should consider using * Iterator in preference to Enumeration. * * @see java.util.Iterator * @see java.io.SequenceInputStream * @see java.util.Enumeration#nextElement() * @see java.util.Hashtable * @see java.util.Hashtable#elements() * @see java.util.Hashtable#keys() * @see java.util.Vector * @see java.util.Vector#elements() * * @author Lee Boynton * @since JDK1.0 */
public interface Enumeration<E> {
Tests if this enumeration contains more elements.
Returns: true if and only if this enumeration object contains at least one more element to provide; false otherwise.
/** * Tests if this enumeration contains more elements. * * @return <code>true</code> if and only if this enumeration object * contains at least one more element to provide; * <code>false</code> otherwise. */
boolean hasMoreElements();
Returns the next element of this enumeration if this enumeration object has at least one more element to provide.
Throws:
Returns: the next element of this enumeration.
/** * Returns the next element of this enumeration if this enumeration * object has at least one more element to provide. * * @return the next element of this enumeration. * @exception NoSuchElementException if no more elements exist. */
E nextElement(); }