Internet and Web Programming

Study Material for MS-18

Directorate of Distance Education
Guru Jambheshwar University of Science & Technology, Hisar
Study Material Prepared by
R. K. Jaiswal
Copyright , R. K. J aiswal
Published by
EXCEL BOOKS
A-45, Naraina, Phase-I,
New Delhi-110 028
Published by Anurag J ain for Excel Books, A-45, Naraina, Phase I, New Delhi-110 028 and printed by him at Excel Printers,
C-206, Naraina, Phase I, New Delhi - 110 028
CONTENTS
Unit 1 Internet Fundamentals 11
1.1 Introduction
1.2 CGI
1.3 How Do You Pass Data from Forms to Server Scripts
1.4 ISP and Internet Account
1.5 HTTP and URLs
1.6 Web Browsers
1.7 URL
1.8 Internet Security
1.9 Telnet
1.10 E-mail
1.11 Gopher
1.12 Search Engine
1.13 Plug ins and helper Programes
1.14 Summary
1.15 Keywords
1.16 Review Questions
1.17 Further Readings
Unit 2 HTML 49
2.1 Introduction
2.2 HTML - An Introduction
2.3 Creating a Web Page
2.4 Basic Structure of an HTML Document
2.5 Lists
2.6 Adding Pictures
2.7 Absolute vs Relative Pathnames
2.8 Image Attributes
2.9 Text Tags
2.10 Introduction to Forms
2.11 Interactive Layout with Frames
2.12 Linking Web Pages and Publishing
2.13 Summary
2.14 Keywords
2.15 Review Questions
2.16 Further Readings
Unit 3 The Genesis of Java 92
3.1 Introduction and Creation
3.2 Applets and Applications
3.3 Security
3.4 Bytecodes
3.5 Java Buzzwords
3.6 Simple
3.7 Multi-threaded
3.8 Architecture Neutral
3.9 J ava and J avaScript
3.10 New in JDK 1.2
3.11 Summary
3.12 Keywords
3.13 Review Questions
3.14 Further Readings
Unit 4 An Overview of Java 97
4.1 Introduction
4.2 What is an Object
4.3 Features of Object Oriented Programming
4.4 The First Simple Program
4.5 Compiling
4.6 Summary
4.7 Keywords
4.8 Review Questions
4.9 Further Readings
Unit 5 Data types, variables and arrays 103
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Data Types in J ava
5.3 Literals
5.4 Character
5.5 Variable Declaration
5.6 Symbolic Constants
5.7 Type Casting
5.8 Arrays
5.9 Vectors
5.10 Array Declaration Syntax
5.11 Summary
5.12 Keywords
5.13 Review Questions
5.14 Further Readings
Unit 6 Operators in java 111
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Arithmetic Operators
6.3 Basic Assignment Operators
6.4 Relational Operators
6.5 Boolean Logical Operators
6.6 Ternary Operator
6.7 Operator Precedence
6.8 Summary
6.9 Keywords
6.10 Review Questions
6.11 Further Readings
Unit 7 Control Statements 116
7.1 Introduction
7.2 J ava's Selection Statements
7.3 Switch
7.4 Nested Switch
7.5 Iteration Constructs
7.6 Continue
7.7 Return
7.8 Summary
7.9 Keywords
7.10 Review Questions
7.11 Further Readings
Unit 8 Classes : An Introduction 127
8.1 Introduction
8.2 What is a Class
8.3 What are Methods
8.4 Summary
8.5 Keywords
8.6 Review Questions
8.7 Further Readings
Unit 9 Method and Classes in Detail 140
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Method Overloading
9.3 Constructor Overloading
9.4 Objects as Parameters
9.5 Returning Objects
9.6 Recursion
9.7 Access Control / Visibility
9.8 Understanding Static, Final
9.9 Nested and Inner Classes
9.10 The String Class
9.11 Command Line Arguments
9.12 Summary
9.13 Keywords
9.14 Review Questions
9.15 Further Readings
Unit 10 Inheritance 159
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Inheritance Basics
10.3 Member Access and Inheritance
10.4 Super Class Variable and Sub Class Object
10.5 Using Super to Call Superclass Constructors
10.6 Another Use of Super
10.7 Multilevel Hierarchy
10.8 Calling Constructor
10.9 Overriding Methods
10.10 Abstract Classes Method
10.11 Final and Inheritance
10.12 Object Class
10.13 Summary
10.14 Keywords
10.15 Review Questions
10.16 Further Readings
Unit 11 Interfaces and Packages 176
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Defining Interface
11.3 What is a Package
11.4 Classpath Variable
11.5 Access Protection
11.6 Important Packages
11.7 Summary
11.8 Keywords
11.9 Review Questions
11.10 Further Readings
Unit 12 Exception Handling 190
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Fundamentals of Exception Handling
12.3 Types of Exceptions
12.4 Uncaught Exceptions
12.5 Try and Catch Keywords
12.6 Throw, Throws and Finally
12.7 Nested Try Statements
12.8 J ava Built in Exceptions
12.9 User Defined Exceptions
12.10 Summary
12.11 Keywords
12.12 Review Questions
12.13 Further Readings
Unit 13 Multithreaded Programming 203
13.1 Introduction
13.2 The J ava Thread Model
13.3 Priorities
13.4 Synchronization
13.5 Messaging
13.6 The Thread Class and Runnable Interface
13.7 Creation of Threads
13.8 Creating Multiple Threads
13.9 Synchronization and Deadlock
13.10 Suspending, Resuming and Stopping Threads
13.11 Summary
13.12 Keywords
13.13 Review Questions
13.14 Further Readings
Unit 14 Applets and Input Output 224
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Input/Output Basics
14.3 Streams (Byte and Character)
14.4 Reading From and Writing to Console
14.5 Reading and Writing Files
14.6 Printwriter Class
14.7 Fundamentals of Applets
14.8 Transient and Volatile Modifier
14.9 Strictfp
14.10 Native Methods
14.11 Problems with Native Methods
14.12 Summary
14.13 Keywords
14.14 Review Questions
14.15 Further Readings
Unit 15 Handling Strings 233
15.1 Introduction
15.2 String Constructor
15.3 String Length
15.4 Operations on Strings
15.5 Extract Character Methods
15.6 String Comparison Methods
15.7 Searching and Modifying
15.8 Data Conversion and ValueOf( ) Methods
15.9 Changing Case of Characters
15.10 String Buffer
15.11 Summary
15.12 Keywords
15.13 Review Questions
15.14 Further Readings
Unit 16 Exploring java.lang 245
16.1 Introduction
16.2 Wrapper Classes and Simple TypeWrappers
16.3 Void
16.4 Abstract Process Class
16.5 Runtime Class and Memory Management
16.6 Other Program Execution
16.7 System Class
16.8 Environment Properties
16.9 Using Clone( ) and Clonable( ) Interface
16.10 Class and Classloader
16.11 Math Class
16.12 Thread, ThreadGroup and Runnable Interface
16.13 Throwable Class
16.14 Security Manager
16.15 The java.lang.ref and java.lang.reflect Packages
16.16 Summary
16.17 Keywords
16.18 Review Questions
16.19 Further Readings
Unit 17 java.utilThe Utility Classes 266
17.1 Introduction
17.2 The Enumeration Interface
17.3 Vector
17.4 Stack
17.5 Dictionary
17.6 Hashtable
17.7 Properties
17.8 Using Store( ) And Load( )
17.9 StringTokenizer
17.10 Bitset Class
17.11 Date and Date Comparison
17.12 Time Zones
17.13 Random Class
17.14 Observer Interface
17.15 Summary
17.16 Keywords
17.17 Review Questions
17.18 Further Readings
Unit 18 Input Output Classes 287
18.1 Introduction
18.2 Input Output Classes
18.3 File in J ava
18.4 Directory
18.5 File Name Filter Interface
18.6 Creating Directory
18.7 The Stream Classes
18.8 InputStream and Outputstream
18.9 FileinputStream and FileOutputStream
18.10 ByteArrayInputStream and ByteArrayOutputStream
18.11 FilteredByteStream
18.12 BufferedByteStream
18.13 PrintStream
18.14 RandomAccessFile
18.15 StreamTokenizer
18.16 Stream Benefits
18.17 Summary
18.18 Keywords
18.19 Review Questions
18.20 Further Readings
Unit 19 Networking 305
19.1 Introduction
19.2 Basics of Networking
19.3 Proxy Server
18.4 Domain Naming Services
19.5 Networking Classes and Interfaces
19.6 InetAddress Class
19.7 TCP / IP Sockets
19.8 Datagram Packet
19.9 Networth
19.10 Summary
19.11 Keywords
19.12 Review Questions
19.13 Further Readings
Unit 20 Applet Class 318
20.1 Introduction
20.2 Applet Basics
20.3 Applet Life Cycle
20.4 A Simple Banner Applet
20.5 Handling Events
20.6 getDocumentBase( ), getCodeBase( ), ShowDocument( ), AppletContext Interface getDocumentBase( )
20.7 AudioClip and AppletStub Interface
20.8 Summary
20.9 Keywords
20.10 Review Questions
20.11 Further Readings
Unit 21 AWT : Windows, Graphics and Text 341
21.1 Introduction
21.2 AWT Classes
21.3 Window Fundamentals
21.4 Working With Frame Windows
21.5 Frame Window in an Applet
21.6 Event Handling in a Frame Window
21.7 A Windowed Program
21.8 Displaying Information While Working With Graphics and Color
21.9 Working With Fonts
21.10 Managing Text Output Using Fontmetrics
21.11 Exploring Text and Graphics
21.12 Summary
21.13 Keywords
21.14 Review Questions
21.15 Further Readings
Unit 22 AWT : Controls, Layouts and Menus 353
22.1 Introduction
22.2 Control Fundamentals
22.3 Layouts
22.4 Menus
22.5 Dialog Class
22.6 Other Controls
22.7 Summary
22.8 Keywords
22.9 Review Questions
22.10 Further Readings
Unit 23 Images 365
23.1 Introduction
23.2 File Formats
23.3 Image Fundamentals
23.4 Image Observer
23.5 Mediatracker
23.6 Summary
23.7 Keywords
23.8 Review Questions
23.9 Further Readings
Unit 24 JDBC 376
24.1 Introduction
24.2 J DBC Introduction of Classes and Methods
24.3 Register Driver
24.4 Establish a Session
24.5 Execute a Query
24.6 ResultSet
24.7 Closing the Session
24.8 Summary
24.9 Keywords
24.10 Review Questions
24.11 Further Readings
UNIT
1
INTERNET FUNDAMENTALS
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe CGI
Understand how CGI works
Understand how to pass data from forms to server scripts
Describe Internet hardware and software
Define ISP and Internet Account
Describe Web Browsers
Describe URL and its various types
Describe Internet Security
Understand how to connect to Telnet
Describe E-mail and its applications
Describe Gopher
Describe search engines, its various types and usage
Describe plug-Ins and Helper programs
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
1.1 Introduction
1.2 CGI
1.3 How Do You Pass Data from Forms to Server Scripts
1.4 ISP and Internet Account
1.5 HTTP and URLs
1.6 Web Browsers
1.7 URL
1.8 Internet Security
1.9 Telnet
1.10 E-mail
1.11 Gopher
1.12 Search Engine
1.13 Plug-Ins and Helper Programs
1.14 Summary
1.15 Keywords
1.16 Review Questions
1.17 Further Readings
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Internet and
Web Programming
1.1 INTRODUCTION
INTERNET is the revolutionary phenomenon heralding the dawn of a new era in human civilization-
the Information Age. With over 30 million computers connected to it and the number growing
exponentially doubling in size approximately every 10 months, its potential for affecting every
facet of life, be it communication, education, entertainment, business and government is mind-
boggling.
Nowadays, most of the hype about the Internet is focused on the World Wide Web. It has existed
for less than 10 years but it has become the fastest growing and most popular part of the Net. The
Web is an interface-a window on the Net. It wraps most of the different features of the Internet
into a single interface used by Web applications.
1.2 CGI
For some Web applications, you may need programs talking to each other at both locations: on
the Web page and one the Web server. If the Web page program is a J ava applet, it is even
possible to make your Web page communicate with an e-mail or chat server instead of the Web
server.
Web pages run your server programs through a server feature called the Common Gateway
Interface (CGI). The programs that run on the server under this feature are called CGI scripts for
historical reasons (not because they have anything to do with Web page script languages such
as J avaScript or VBScript). CGI scripts are generally written in the languages of either C or Perl,
although other languages are also used to create the executable script file.
Creating a CGI script for a Web server is not a simple task. Most Internet service providers require
that you submit such scripts to them and pay for them to review it before you (or they) install it
on the server. This precaution is to make sure that the script will not cause problems for others.
For most Web page developers, attractive alternatives include using pre-designed or pre-installed
scripts that their Webmaster has already approved and has provided easy access to. Another
alternative is to buy special tools that create the scripts for you.
How CGI Works
How do CGI programs operate? The easiest way to envision a CGI program is to imagine that it is
part of a Web server. The browser sends a request to the server. If the requested URL corresponds
to a CGI program, the server starts the appropriate program and passes to the program a copy of
the request. The server then sends the output from the CGI program back to the browser in the
form of a reply.
Interestingly, from a browser's point of view, there is no difference between a URL that corresponds
to a static document and one that corresponds to a CGI program. Requests for both static
documents and CGI output have the same syntactic form. Similarly, all replies that a browser
receives from a server have the same form there is nothing to tell the browser whether the server
is returning a copy of a static document or the output from a CGI program.
Professional Programmers Build
CGI Programs
Who builds CGI programs? Only someone who knows how to write a computer program can
create a CGI program. Thus, the technology is beyond the capabilities of most users. More
important, CGI programs are somewhat unusual because they interact directly with a Web server.
The CGI program must be written to follow the server's guidelines. For example, unlike a
conventional computer program, a CGI program does not write output on a user's screen.
Instead, a Web server captures the output from a CGI program and sends it back to the browser.
Similarly, a CGI program does not receive input from a keyboard or a mouse - the browser handles all
interaction with the user. Interestingly, the interaction between a Web server and a CGI program
also depends on the computer's operating system. Therefore, like conventional programs, each CGI
program is written for one brand of Web server and for one brand of computer operatingsystem.
Before the CGI program can be used on a different computer system, it may need to be rewritten.
13
Internet Fundamentals
CGI and Advertising
Corporations quickly realized that CGI technology can be used to enhance advertising. Recall
that frame technology makes it possible to separate advertisements from the Web pages themselves.
A CGI program can store information about previous contacts from a given browser, and use the
information when selecting an advertisement. That is, whenever it receives a request for a page,
the CGI program can select an advertisement to place in one frame, while sending the requested
page in another. As a result, a user will see a different advertisement each time he visits the
corporate site. CGI programs can also keep a record of which corporate Web pages a user visits
and choose advertisements that suit the user. If the user has browsed pages about furniture and
appliances, the CGI program might choose to include ads appropriate for someone who is
furnishing a house. If a user browses pages of popular music, the CGI program might choose to
include advertisements about events such as upcoming rock concerts.
Web Pages can Interact
Although the CGI technology discussed above can be used to create Web pages that change,
CGI programs run only at the server. Thus, a CGI program cannot interact directly with a user. To
make it possible for a user to enter data, another technology was invented. Known as FORMS,
the technology permits a Web page to contain blank areas in which the user must enter information.
After a user fills in the required information, the browser sends the information to the server when
requesting another page.
The advantage of forms technology should be clear: instead of merely selecting items from a list,
FORMS make it possible to enter data directly. For example, suppose a user wishes to purchase
an item over the Web. The user must supply a credit card number and a postal address to which
the item should be mailed. Without FORM technology, entering such information is almost
impossible. With FORM technology, a single Web page can be displayed for the user that
contains a form for the credit card number and another form for the mailing address. Once the user
has filled in the forms and clicked on a selectable item (e.g., an item labeled purchase), the browser
sends the information to the server.
Active Documents are More Powerful
Newer, more powerful Web technologies have been developed to help solve the problems of
providing smooth motion and animation. The new technologies take an entirely different approach
by making documents active. An active document is a computer program that paints an image on
a screen. Active documents are stored on Web servers, and each active document is associated
with a URL just like conventional Web pages. Furthermore, retrieval works as usual; a browser
receives a copy of an active document when it requests the document's URL just like it receives
a copy of a conventional Web page. Once a browser receives a copy of an active document, the
browser runs the program on the local computer. The running program paints an image on the
browser's screen.
How Do You Make Web Pages Run Server Scripts?
To write a Web page command that runs a server script, you must know a few things about that
script. Pages that run server scripts refer to the scripts by the script's URL. To run a server script,
therefore, you must know the script's URL: its name and the sub-directory where it is located on
your Web server. (Note that it must be your Web server the server the Web page comes from.
You are not usually permitted to run a script on a different server.)
You must also know what kind of data the script wants passed to it, and what method must be
used for passing the data. There are two basic ways of running a CGI script located at a particular
URL, depending on how that script requires data to be passed to it. (The way you pass data is
officially called the method.) The two methods of passing data that a script may use are asfollows:
GET for transmitting a line of data
POST for transmitting data from forms
S0ome scripts require one particular method to be used. Others can use either method. The GET
method in its simplest form uses a conventional FIREF (hyperlink reference) tag in HTML, but
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Internet and
Web Programming
instead of another Web page's URL, it uses the script's URL. Following is an example of a link you
click to run a program using the GET method. Although this example runs a script when the user
clicks a link, your page could alternatively use J avaScript to run a script. In this hypothetical
example, the script receives data about what Canadian province is being discussed and what
language is to be used for script output.
<A HREF="/cgi-bin/myscript.bin?provinc=quebec&language=french">Click here to run the
script.<P></A>
The URL is cgi-bin/myscript.bin. (The script file's name is myscript.bin and it is in the cgi-bin
directory of the Web server.) Not only is the URL given, but in the same line, following a question
mark symbol (?), values (parameters) are passed to the CGI script for it to act upon. The parameters
in the example are named province and language, and they are given the values quebee and
french, respectively, in this case. The ampersand (&) separates the two values.
The CGI script and the HTML code that runs the script must both be designed to work together,
as they both must use the same method and variables. To read the data in the example, for
instance, the CGI script must know or ascertain that the GET method was used to transmit the
data. It then looks within a special variable (an environment variable) reserved for this purpose
that usually has the name QUERYSTRING (or QUERY-STRING) to find the data that was passed.
The data is passed as a single string of characters, so the script must separate (parse) the data. It
does so by looking for the variables by their names (in this example, pros-ince and language) or
by their position in the string, and reading whatever data follows each variable's equal sign (=).
Student Activity 1
1. Define CGI.
2. How does CGI works ?
3. How can CGI technology enhance advertising ?
4. Define FORMS. Describe its usage.
5. How do you make web pages run server scripts?
1.3 HOW DO YOU PASS DATA FROM FORMS TO
SERVER SCRIPTS
To pass data from forms to server scripts, you use special attributes within the various form tags.
Following is an example of the HTML for a Web page in which a form is used. The user fills out a
form and then clicks a button labeled "Submit" to run the CGI script and transmit form data to it.
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Guest Book</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<CENTER>
<H1 ALIGN="CENTER">Guest Book</H1>
<HR>
<FORM ACTION="/scripts/perl-cgi/guest.pl" METHOD="POST">
First Name :<INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="fn" SIZE="24" MAXLENGTH="30"><BR>
Last Name :<INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="ln" SIZE="24" MAXLENGTH="30"><BR>
City : <INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="fn" SIZE="24" MAXLENGTH="30"><BR>
State :<INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="fn" SIZE="24" MAXLENGTH="30"><BR>
15
Internet Fundamentals
Email Address :<INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="fn" SIZE="24"
MAXLENGTH="30"><BR>
Comments :<TEXTAREA NAME="comments" COLS=36" ROWS="7"></TEXTAREA><BR>
<INPUT TYPE="submit" VALUE="Submit">
<INPUT TYPE="reset" VALUE="Clear Form">
<P>
</FORM>
</CENTER>
</BODY>
</HTML>
Internet Hardware and Software
A modem (short form of modulator-demodulator) is a device, which is used to convert digital
signals to analog signals so that they can be transferred over the standard telephone line. At the
receiving end another modem is connected which reconverts the analog signals back to the
digital signals (Figure 1.1).
Figure 1.1 Modulation-Demodulation Process
Digital signals are converted to analog signals by the first modem so that information can be
transferred over analog telecommunication lines. At the receiving end, it is reconverted by the
second modem to digital signals so that the message is available in its original form. In order to
connect to the Internet, you have to first connect your computer system with a modem, which in
turn helps to establish a connection to the Internet with the help of telephone lines.
Factors to be considered while buying a modem
While buying modems the following factors are to be taken into account :
(a) Transmission speed
(b) Data compression schemes
(c) Error Correction Protocols
(d) Type of Modem, i.e., Internal vs. External
Transmission Speed
Transmission speed is the speed with which the data is transmitted. It is measured in bits per
second (bps). Modems come in different speeds like 300 bps, 1200 bps, 2400 bps, 4800 bps, 9600
bps, 14,400 bps (14.4 kbps) and 28,800 bps (28.8 kbps). One kbps (1 kilo bits per second) stands
for 1000 bits per second. The faster the transmission speed of the modem, higher will be its cost,
the advantage being that data is transferred at faster speeds. This implies that if the transmission
channels permit these speeds then the modem will attain that speed, otherwise it will depend on
the speed of the media. These days modems of speeds 28.8 kbps, 33.6 kbps, and 56 kbps are
gaining popularity.
Data Compression Schemes
Since voluminous data is to be transferred, data has to be compressed. In order to bring about
standardization of the compressed codes generated by different modems various standards have
evolved.








16
Internet and
Web Programming
V.32 standard has achieved a transmission speed of 9,600 bps.
V.32 b transmits data at a speed of 14,400 kbps.
V.34 standard allows a transmission speed of upto 28,800 bps.
V.42 provides four-fold data compression.
Error Correction Protocols
Since data travels over telephone lines many errors can be introduced in the signal because of
noise, which also travels in waves along with the data. Therefore, error correction protocols are
used to free data from errors. Some popular systems are MNP (Microcom Networking Protocol)
and V. 42. Examples of error-correction protocols of MNP are MNP2, MNP3, MNP4. V.42 is a
standard for error correction based on Link Access Procedure for Modem (LAPM) standards.
These standards are available in all modems so that the user is not troubled.
Types of Modems
There are two types of modems (Figure 1.2)
Figure 1.2 Types of Modems
Cable modems (subscriber unit)
A Cable Modem is a device that enables you to attach your PC to a local cable TV line and receive
data at approximately 3.5 mbps. The distance can be 100 kms or even more. This is much faster
than the dial-up connection (56 kbps) and the ISDN connection (128 kbps). When a cable modem
unit is installed next to your computer, a splitter is also placed. It separates the coaxial cable line
serving the cable modem from the line that serves the TV set. A separate coaxial cable line is
connected from the splitter to the cable modem.
A cable modem has two connections. One to the cable wall outlet, and the other to a PC or to
set-top box for a TV. A set-top box is a device that enables a television set to become a user
interface to the Internet and also enables the television set to receive, and decode digital television
broadcast.

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17
Internet Fundamentals
Figure 1.3 Cable Modem System
Typically cable modem is connected to a standard 10BASE-T (10 refers to transmission speed of
10 mbps, BASE refers to baseband signalling and T refers to twisted pair cabling) with Ethernet
(LAN) card in the computer. A wire called "Category 5 cabling" (Cat 5 cabling) with connects the
cable modem to the Ethernet card. Data transmission rate between the cable modem and the
computer is 10 mpbs. Basically you connect the cable modem to the TV outlet for your cable TV
and the cable TV operator connects a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) at his end
(Head-End) (Figure 1.2). CMTS is a central device for connecting the Cable TV Network to a data
network like the Internet through the backbone of a cable Internet Service Provider. The CMTS
can talk to all cable modems (CMs) but the cable modem can only talk to the CMTS. Now if two
cable modems have to talk then the CMTS will have to relay the messages.
Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) is a cable modem standard that defines
technical specifications for both cable modems and CMTS.
Student Activity 2
1. How do you pass data from forms to server scripts ?
2. What is a modem ?
3. Which factors are to be considered while buying a modem ?
4. Describe various types of modems.
5. What are cable modems ?
1.4 ISP AND INTERNET ACCOUNT
An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is an organization or business offering public access to the
Internet. It is your gateway, to the Net. You have to subscribe to a provider for your Internet
connection. You use your computer and modem to access the provider's system and the provider
handles the rest of the details of connecting you to the Internet.
There are many types of Internet providers. You can, for instance, choose one of the big commercial
on-line service providers. The primary business of an ISP is hooking people to the Internet by
giving an Internet account to subscribers, and providing them with two different kinds of access:
shell access and SLIP/PPP access. Most ISPs offer both kinds of access, some offer both with a
single account, and others require that you choose one or the other. Once you register, your
provider will give you a user name (called a userid), a password, and a phone number to dial. To
establish the Internet connection, you have your communications program dial the number. You
then log in using your particular userID and password.
At present it is VSNL (Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited) which is dominating the Internet scene in
India through its GIAS (Gateway Internet Access Service). The other service providers in India
are MTNL (Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited), Mantraon-line, and Satyam online.

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100 (- 3.50 / )






18
Internet and
Web Programming
Most probably it would be present as a service provider in your city, if you are lucky enough to
dwell in an Indian city like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta, Pune, Ahmedabad, Lucknow,
Bangalore, etc. It is also available to you in various other cities through RABMN (Remote Area
Business Management Network) and GPSS (Gateway Packet Switching Service), our older Indian
networks, where you will really have to inquire yourself from VSNL or DOT for availability and
type of connectivity. For many institutions and organizations, Internet access is available through
ERNET, our old, but rich and reliable Educational and Research Network. NIC also provides
Internet facility through their NIC-NET network.
Choosing an ISP
The privatization of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) is set to give a further fillip to the Internet
boom. Central to the success of any service is the price criterion. You will be amazed to find out
how a service offered at a premium could in effect be cheaper, considering the add-on facilities
that are offered along with the core service. Do not forget that apart from the Internet connection,
the ISP gives you an international contact address, that is, your E-Mail address. It is because of
this E-Mail address that you must be discerning while choosing your ISP. The E-Mail address
provided by the ISP would be all over your business, and it will not be easy for you to change
your service provider if you wish to change your address. You will have to live with the ISP as
well as the E-Mail address. So, be judicious while making the choice, just as you would while
choosing your life partner.
User-to-Telephone Ratio
The first thing you must keep in mind while zeroing in on your ISP is the user-to-line ratio it
commands. That is, how many users are using or are expected to use one single telephone line.
Ascertaining this, however, is not easy as the number of subscribers are growing every day.
Nevertheless, even the current user-to-line ratio will give you an idea about the standards the ISP
has set for itself. This factor is very critical because it determines the ease of usage whether you
would be able to connect to your ISP or not. Another way of finding this is to check out with some
of the existing users as to how much time it normally takes to dial into a given ISP. If it takes more
than 10 minutes to get through, that particular ISP should be avoided.
Interface Simplicity
Very few organizations take into account the simplicity of the interface while opting for an ISP.
This occurs to them only when they begin to use the Internet service across their organizations.
The right kind of interface can lead to tremendous savings in cost. There are other problems too.
How many users in an organization know about dial-up networking under Windows? How many
can remember and use passwords correctly? To how many people would you like to give the
password? Does terms like TCP/IP sound friendly to them? Questions like these determine the
success of the Internet enabled organizations. There are some ISPs to whom these questions do
not apply. They provide an easy-to-use interface that once installed works by simply pressing a
button.
Roaming Facility
The roaming facility is particularly relevant for those who travel a lot. Though most ISPs advertize
this particular facility, there are not many who pay heed to it. Its benefits are realized only when
one reaches another city and wants to access an urgent E-Mail or the Internet. How does one
connect to the Internet when one is not an ISP subscriber in that particular city? To overcome this
problem, either you will have to use a facility like Hotmail to access your mail from around the
world or use the roaming facility provided by your ISP. The roaming facility allows you to dial-in
into the local node of your ISP or of the regional ISP that your service provider has a tie-up with.
Then all you have to do is to plug in your computer to a telephone line, find out the numbers for
dial-up access, and then using your password, access your original Internet account. A crucial
point here is the number of cities that your ISP has presence in or has tie-ups for the same.
Multiple Login Facility
Very few users know about this facility, mainly because it is hardly advertized. However, it can
prove to be a life-saver and a great help for small and medium business houses. If an organization
has only one Internet connection, but more than one employees want to access the Net
19
Internet Fundamentals simultaneously then this would be possible only if the ISP offers to the organization the multiple
login facility. In fact, this facility can even be availed of while being away from the organization.
For instance, one user may be in New Delhi and the other user in Mumbai. But, with the E-Mail ID
it would be possible for the man away in Mumbai to simultaneously access the Internet. Some
ISPs offer multiple E-Mail IDs that allow you to segregate E-Mail individually. But you have to
pay extra for this.
ISDN Facility a boon for Corporates
ISDN services are a boon for corporates that have multiple users who need simultaneous Internet
access. Mantraon-line is the first private ISP to offer the same, and at special rates. If you believe
in planning for the future, and are optimistic about the utility of the Net in your organization, then
maybe you should give this option a serious thought.
Special Packages
The private ISPs are putting out some unique usage packages. One of them is by Mantraon-line.
It has launched a special package for night users. For those who access the Net at night, Mantra
offers a dial-up account which costs almost half compared to the regular connection. This account
cannot be used during day time. This is only the beginning as far as special packages are
concerned. Soon you will find ISPs (especially the regional ones) coming out with packages that
will fit your needs better than your cotton trousers. Already, VXL has launched India's first cable
modem ISP service in Bangalore. So do not forget to check out each and every player before
deciding on your Internet partner.
Support
This is a very crucial topic and an area of service where most of the players have been found
wanting. Try getting any help from the service provider and the beautifully programmed EPABX
system will take you around each and every option, only to disconnect your call at the end
stating: "Sorry, the person handling your call is busy at the moment." In case, you happen to be
using a pulse-dialling equipment, you can forget using the telephone, and may as well go to their
office and clear out the matter there and then.
Ideally, new users should subscribe to an ISP where they can be hand-held through the initial
process, as Bill Gate's Windows operating system does try its best to support you in the exercise.
An installation guide, the help desk's phone number, Windows 95 installation CD are part of the
necessary survival kit that a new user must have while undergoing this not-so-holy procedure.
Discounts on Renewal
Last but not the least, you must find out whether your ISP will renew your account at the same
rate or whether there are any discounts to retain its old customers? This is a factor that can upset
those lining for their first-buy. VSNL has been very successful in playing this card. It offers
slashed rates to those subscribers who renew their accounts.
Brochure-speak
If you can have more than a hundred different versions of the holy Ramayana, just think what the
crafty marketing people can do to simple terms of the Internet. Hence, one must see through the
exotic looking tariff cards of most ISPs. You must have the ability to judge beyond the gloss and
the glitter. To summarize, here is what you want from an Internet Service Provider:
Access via a local phone call
a flat monthly fee
An ISDN or fast (28.8 kbps) connection
A PPP account
A shell account at no extra charge
The ability to use whichever Internet clients you want
Full Internet access to all resources
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Internet and
Web Programming
The capability of having your own web home page
Software support, through which you can use to connect to and use the Internet
Technical support should be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Internet was available for some time through ERNET and it was made available for commercial use
by VSNL since August 1995. Presently VSNL operates in the following six metres:
New Delhi
Chennai
Calcutta
Mumbai
Bangalore
Pune
The membership and networking rules are controlled by VSNL. VSNL has its own leased lines to
USA where the Indian network is connected to the main Internet network. VSNL offers threetypes
of membership to any user to be connected to Internet. The three types of Internet accounts are:
Shell account
TCP/IP account
Web-site or Homepage
Shell Account
It is usually subscribed by students and other members who want to access technical information
in any branch of knowledge. The information is available only in text mode and no graphics and
pictures are available. One can send E-mail to others on Internet, obtain information about latest
research papers of various universities, search for product information, having on-line discussion,
float questions to be answered by others, find out the latest news on any topic, find out tourist
information like train, air schedule, interested places, etc.
Shell account is more useful and cheaper. It requires very small hardware set-up and the membership
is economical. The membership fee are Rs. 500 for students and Rs. 5000 for a professional per
year for 500 hours or whichever is earlier and Rs. 25,000 for a company.
TCP/IP Account
TCP/IP account provides the same advantages to that of shell account plus and it provides
unlimited access to Internet. It requires UNIX-Based machine, 1-2 GB of Hard-disc, 16-32 MB of
RAM and SVGA/VGA monitors and TCP/IP software for better results.
It provides an access to graphics, games, movies and other multimedia products along with text
chapters, The membership fee for this account to an educational institution is Rs. 15,000 and Rs
500 for registration.
Homepage or Website
Website makes a user as a node of Internet. This means that if a university decides to float its own
Website, then all information regarding admissions, scholarships, rules and regulations, courses
it offers, department, staff and their profiles, workshops, conferences, seminars and symposia to
be conducted, etc., can be kept at University's computer centre. This computer can be accessed
by any member on Internet for any particular course; it will be automatically listed with all its
details. This Website is important to a university or a company to offer 24-hours service and on-
line help to international clients.
Developing a Website on Internet is a costly affair as far as hardware and other costs are concerned.
There are no set of rules and regulations for granting Website by VSNL. Homepages can have
21
Internet Fundamentals text, graphics, pictures and animation. Some homepages can add sound and give multimedia
capabilities. Any access to a homepage is called a "hit". The more popular the homepage, the
more hits it will receive. Homepages can be grouped together in any order and be hyperlinked.
Student Activity 3
1. What is an ISP ? Name some ISPs available in India.
2. What are the factors to be considered for choosing an ISP ?
3. Define shell account.
4. Define TCP / IP account.
5. Define home page.
6. Define a Website.
1.5 HTTP AND URLs
If you have ever noticed an advertisement that says "check out our Web site", you must have
seen the way they describe how to find it, giving you the address, or URL, which almost begins
with the letters http:. (URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator). Within this system, there is a
unique URL for any hypertext item on the Net. Moreover, there are also unique URLs for non-
hypertext items from other services, such as gophers, anonymous ftp sites, Usenet newsgroups
and wais databases. You see lots of URLs in newspapers and magazines these days. These URLs
are basically "pointers" to documents, movies, photos, and so on, located on computer somewhere.
You may want to visit those sites using URLs. If it's out there, you can get to it.
Let's look at an example:
http:// www.uptecnet.com/news.htm#yaksha
In this example, the URL has the following elements:
The first part of URL specifies the transfer protocol, the method that a computer uses to
access this file. Most Web pages are accessed with the HTTP which is why Web addresses
typically begin with http. The http:// at the beginning of a Web page's URL is so common
that it often goes without saying; if you simply typeuptecnet.com into the address window
of Internet Explorer or Navigator, the browser fills in the http:// for itself. In common usage,
the http: // at the beginning of a URL often is left out. Since the Web is not the only Internet
service, you may occasionally see addresses that start with ftp:, gopher:, telnet:, news:, or
some other name. The protocol is followed by a colon.
The www.uptecnet.com part of the address called a domain name is preceded by two
slashes. This is the name assigned to a computer located somewhere in the world that is
permanently connected to the host name of the Web server. In the name, www stands for
World Wide Web, uptecnet is the name of the company or organization hosting the site,
.com is the identification of the type of organization hosting the site called the topmost
domain. The Web server is invisible from the URL that means URL does not tell you where
the Web server is actually located. It is the job of DNS (Domain Name System) to route your
Web page request to the Web server regardless of its physical location.
The news.htm is the path to a file it is saying that the document news.htm is stored in
folder named / (root).
The # Yaksha part of the name, called a fragment ID, is the name of a specific part of the
document.
1.6 WEB BROWSERS
To access the World Wide Web, you use what is called a Web browser (already discussed in the
previous chapter). Browsers are sometimes also called Web clients, since they get information
from a server. When you start a WWW browser or follow a hyperlink, the browser (acting like a
client) sends a request to a site on the Internet. That site (acting like a server) returns a file which
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Internet and
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the browser then has to display. In order for you to see or hear what's in the file, the browser
should be capable of interrupting its contents. This differs depending on the type of file, text,
graphics and/or images that may be displayed. If the file is written using HyperText Markup
Language (HTML), the browser interprets the file so that graphics and images are displayed
along with the text.
Basic Features of Browsers
Before we get involved in all the details, let is discuss some important browser features.
1. The Web browser should be able to look at the Web pages throughout the Internet or to
connect to various sites to access information, explore resources, and have fun.
2. The Web browser must enable you to follow the hyperlinks on a Web page and also to type
in a URL for it to follow.
3. Another feature of browser is to have a number of other commands readily available
through menus, icons, and buttons.
4. Your browser ought to include an easy way to get on-line help as well as built-in links to
other resources on the Web that can give you help or answers to your questions.
5. You will definitely want a way to save links to the sites you have visited on the WWW so
that you can get back to them during other sessions. Web browsers take care of those in
two ways, through a history list, which keeps a record of some of the Web pages you've
come across in the current session, and a bookmark list, which you use to keep a list of
WWW pages you want to access any time you use your browser. The name of the site and
its URL are kept in these lists. The bookmark list is particularly important and the browser
will contain tools to manage and arrange it.
6. One of the main feature of a browser is to search the information on the current page as well
as search the WWW itself.
7. Browsers give you the facility to save a Web page in a file on your computer, print a Web page
on your computer, and send the contents of a Web page by e-mail to others on the Internet.
8. Few Web browsers (like Netscape Communicator) are complete Internet package, means
they come with components like e-mail client, newsgroup client, an HTML composer, telnet
client, ftp client, etc.
9. Web browser should be able to handle text, images of the World Wide Web, as well as the
hyperlinks to digital video, or other types of information.
10. To take advantage of some of the most exciting things on the World Wide Web, your
browser needs to properly display and handle Web pages that contain animated or interactive
items. Netscape Navigator can incorporate these features through its ability to interpret
programs written in J ava and J ava Script.
11. Web browsers interact not just with the Web, but also with your computer's operating
system and with other programs, called plug-ins, that gives the browser enhanced features.
12. Another important feature to insist on in your browser is caching. A browser that caches
keeps copies of the pages you visit so that it does not have to download them again if you
want to return to them. Reloading a page from the cache is much quicker than downloading
it again from the original source.
13. The most important feature of any browser is ease of use. While all Web browsers are
fundamentally simple to use, the one you settle on should be very easy to work with; it
should function as a transparent window onto the Web.
14. If you will be browsing the Web from within a secured network, you may have to configure
your browser to work through a special computer on your network called a proxy server.
Most popular browsers let you configure them to work with a proxy server, but some dont,
so find out if you will be working through a proxy before deciding on your browser. If you
are, your ISP or system administrator will tell you if you need to do anything special to use
your browser.
23
Internet Fundamentals
1.7 URL
If you have ever noticed an advertisement that says "check out our Web site", you must have
seen the way they describe how to find it, giving you the address, or URL, which almost begins
with the letters http:. (URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator.) Within this system, there is a
unique URL for any hypertext item on the Net. Moreover, there are also unique URLs for non-
hypertext items from other services, such as gophers, anonymous ftp sites, Usenet newsgroups
and wais databases. You see lots of URLs in newspapers and magazines these days. These URLs
are basically "pointers" to documents, movies, photos, and so on, located on computer somewhere.
You may want to visit those sites using URLs. If it's out there, you can get to it.
Let's look at an example:
http:// www.uptecnet.com/news.htm#yaksha
In this example, the URL has the following elements:
The first part of URL specifies the transfer protocol, the method that a computer uses to
access this file. Most Web pages are accessed with the HTTP which is why Web addresses
typically begin with http. The http:// at the beginning of a Web page's URL is so common
that it often goes without saying; if you simply typeuptecnet.com into the address window
of Internet Explorer or Navigator, the browser fills in the http:// for itself. In common usage,
the http: // at the beginning of a URL often is left out. Since the Web is not the only Internet
service, you may occasionally see addresses that start with ftp:, gopher:, telnet:, news:, or
some other name. The protocol is followed by a colon.
The www.uptecnet.com part of the address called a domain name is preceded by two
slashes. This is the name assigned to a computer located somewhere in the world that is
permanently connected to the host name of the Web server. In the name, www stands for
World Wide Web, uptecnet is the name of the company or organization hosting the site,
.com is the identification of the type of organization hosting the site called the topmost
domain. The Web server is invisible from the URL that means URL does not tell you where
the Web server is actually located. It is the job of DNS (Domain Name System) to route your
Web page request to the Web server regardless of its physical location.
The news.htm is the path to a file it is saying that the document news.htm is stored in
folder named / (root).
The # Yaksha part of the name, called a fragment ID, is the name of a specific part of the
document.
URL Anatomy
URL (pronounced U-R-ell) stands for Uniform Resource Locator, which is simply an address of a
document on the Web or, more accurately, on the Internet. Although a URL can look complex and
long, it is made up of four basic parts protocols, hostname, folder name, and file name each
of which has a specific function.
Types of URLs
URLs vary depending on the location of the document to which you are linking. For example, a
URL will be longer and include more information if the file is on the World Wide Web. A URL will
be shorter and include less information if the file is on your local computer or server. Basically,
URLs fall into two categories:
Absolute
Relative
An absolute URL contains all the information necessary to identify files on the Internet. A relative
URL points to files in the same folder or on the same server. In other words, the file linked to is
relative to the originating document.
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Internet and
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Absolute URLs
An absolute URL contains the protocol indicator, hostname, folder name, and file name. Absolute
URLs are similar to addresses used by the Indian Postal Service, which include a name, street
address, apartment number (if applicable), city, state, and pin code. If some of the information is
missing say, the street number or house number the carrier can not deliver the mail to the
right person.
Here are some absolute URLs:
http://www.xmission.com/services/index.html
http://www.altavista.digital.com/
ftp:/ftp.raycomm.com/download/readme.txt
Relative URLs
A relative URL usually contains only the folder name and file name or even just the file name. You
can use these partial URLs when you are pointing to a file that is logged within the same folder or
on the same server as the originating file. In these cases, a browser does not need the server name
or protocol indicator because it assumes that the files are located in a folder or on a server that is
relative to the originating document.
Document-Relative URLs
You will often use a document-relative URL when you are developing or testing a set of HTML
documents. When linking from index.html, use the following URLs:
services/consulting.html
services/other/tips.html
When linking from consulting.html to tips.html, use the following URL: other/tips.html
Server-Relative URLs
A server-relative URL is relative to the server root that is, relative to the hostname part of the
URL. Server-relative URLs have a forward slash (/) at the beginning of the file name, which
indicates that you interpret the path of the document from the top of the current server (the server
root), rather than from the current document location. For example, from anywhere in our site, we
could use a server-relative URL to display out home page with a link to /index.html, which would
display the index.html file right under the top of the server. Some server-relative URLs include:
/index.html
/contacts/names.html
Server-relative URLs are useful when you are linking to a specific location on the server (such as
contact information) that is not likely to change and that is not clearly relative to the current
document.
Adding Special Characters
HTML is not limited to standard ASCII characters, which do not include special characterssuch
as trademark symbols. You can use character entities to create many other characters. Each of
these extra characters has both a name and a number. To include a character entity in the text of
your Web page, type an ampersand (&), the name or number of the character, and a semicolon(;).
If you use the character number, precede it by#. For example, to include a copyright symbol, you
can type & copy; or &#169; in your text. Not all characters have names; some only havenumbers.
The table below lists of some useful character entities; you can use the version in either the
second or third column of the table (unless only one version is available). For a complete listing
of all the standard character entities, see one of the following sites:
http://www.natural-innovations.com/boo/doc-charset.html
http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/-jwmitch/iso8859-1.html
25
Internet Fundamentals When displaying text, browsers ignore repeated whitespace characters. For example, while writing
an HTML program, if the Enter key is pressed several times, the browsers display only one
vertical space. Similarly, if ten spaces are typed, the browsers generate only one space.
Character Character Entity Character Entity
(Name) (Number)
Less than (<) &lt; &#060;
Less than (>) &gt; &#062;
Bullet () &#149;
Em dash () &#150;
En dash (-) &#151;
Trademark () &#153;
Nonbreaking space &nbsp; &#160;
Inverted exclamation point (!) &iexcl; &#161;
Copyright() &copy; &#169;
Registered trademark () &reg; &#174;
Paragraph sign () &para; &#182;
One-half () &frac12; &#189;
Inverted question mark (?) &iquest; &#191;
1.8 INTERNET SECURITY
Commercial and government enterprises are reluctant to use the Internet because of security
concerns. During the past several years, attacks on routers have become frequent, with attackers
realising that they can create many more problems by targeting the routing infrastructure than
attacking any single system. The Internet currently uses BGP (border gateway protocol) for inter
domain routing. Also, because BGP sessions use TCP to transmit data between routers, the
recent increase in TCP based attacks is an additional threat to BGP security.
In the past, the Internet community used SNMP (simple network management protocol) to monitor
the health of the network, and to debug operational problems. But now it is pretty easy to
eavesdrop on SNMP traffic and discover the appropriate community name, and then access the
SNMP database on the management network device. This is especially true when the management
network device uses no authentication. There are also programs that guess passwords, trying
millions of combinations of letters to find a match. Once an attacker gains access to the SNMP
database, he can attack in many ways. If security relevant information, such as a password, is
stored in the database, the attacker can learn the password.
The need to augment Intranet security is being alarmingly realized with the emergence of E-
commerce. Presently, E-commerce operations are marked by fear of loss of money and privacy.
One recent survey, undertaken by Equifex and Harris Associates, determined that over two-thirds
of Internet consumers considered privacy concerns to be very important.
E-Mail Threats
E-Mail when sent across the Internet is more like a post card. It can be intercepted at any stage
and read by anybody who can lay his hands on it. To ensure the secrecy of the message, the
sender as well as the receiver should agree on a secret key. There starts the problem. If your
intended recipient is in a far away country, then you have to distribute the key first to him before
you can send him the message. And this presents a logistical problem. Public key cryptography
was designed to overcome this problem through what is known as public key private key pair.
Another way of ensuring the secrecy of E-Mail messages is through the use of a technique called
signing a message.
Firewall A Safe Bet
Are you planning to connect your organization to the lntemet? Do your employees dial into your
computers from remote places? Do you have multiple branches connected to each other? If your
26
Internet and
Web Programming
answer is yes, then Firewall is what you need to protect your lntranet. Firewall is typically defined
as a system or group of systems that enforces an access control policy between two networks. It
may also be defined as a mechanism used to protect a trusted network from an untrusted network.
Firewall is a collection of components or a system placed between two networks.
Firewall acts as a gatekeeper between a company's internal network and the outside world. It acts
as an electronic barrier to stop unauthorized entry. A firewall basically performs two important
functions: gatekeeping and monitoring.
Gatekeeping by Firewall : Firewall acts as a gatekeeper between the company's internal
network and the outside network. It examines the location from
which the data enters your system and then decides, based on
your instructions, whether or not to allow that information.
Monitoring by Firewall : In addition to gatekeeping, the firewall also monitors information.
Monitoring is one of the most important aspects of firewall design.
Monitoring functions include logging of all system activities and
generation of reports for system administration. Monitoring can
be active or passive. In active monitoring, a firewall notifies a
manager whenever an incident occurs. The firewall product, Smart
wall, alerts the administrator via E-Mail or a pager about suspicious
on-line activity. In passive monitoring, a firewall logs a record of
each incident in a file or a disk. Then a manager can analyze the log
periodically to determine whether attempts to access the
organization have increased or decreased over time.
Firewall Architecture
An organization that connects to the Internet over a serial line might choose to implement a
firewall. Router R2 implements the outer barrier; it filters all traffic except datagrams destined for
the bastion host. Router RI implements the inner barrier that isolates the rest of the corporate
Internet from outsiders; it blocks all incoming datagrams except those that originate on the
bastion host. Figure 1.4 contains a superfluous network that connects the two routers and the
bastion host. Such a network is often called a stab network because it consists of a stubby wire
to which only three computers are connected.
Figure 1.4 Firewall with one domain
Student Activity 4
1. What is a Web Browser?
2. Describe the basic features of a Web Browser.
3. Define URL.
4. Describe various types of URLs.
5. Why is Internet Security required?
6. What is a firewall? Describe the firewall architecture.







27
Internet Fundamentals
1.9 TELNET
Telnet is a standard Internet protocol for remote terminal connection service. By remote terminal
we mean the other computer whose data/programs have to be accessed. This computer may be in
the near vicinity or seven seas away. The computer on which the user works is called the local
computer. In other words, Telnet is a facility by which a user can sit on a local computer and
access remote computers provided he has a valid user id (user identity) and password of the
remote computer or it could be that the remote computer allows public access. Telnet works on
the client/server principle where the remote computer acts as a server by accepting the requests
of the client (local computer), processing it and then sending the results back to the client.
Generally Telnet is used in order to retrieve:
Special information from a remote database
Weather reports
Library catalogs
Departmental stores catalogs
E-mail while touring
Information from other Internet tools like FTP, Gopher, etc.
Getting Connected To Telnet
Generally there are two ways by which a local computer can be connected to a remote computer.
The most common way is to log on to any Internet host on which you have an account. For
example, you can make a connection to a remote UNIX computer. The next thing the host would
ask you to do is to enter your name and password. If the above data is correctly entered then you
can access the UNIX software. In fact your computer emulates the remote terminal.
Another way to access a remote computer would be if that remote computer provides public
Telnet access i.e. any netizen can access these types of remote computers from his own desktop.
These remote computers do not require any password to be entered and can be directly accessed.
For example, you want to find a particular book in the library catalog; you can do so provided that
particular library computer provides public access.
If you use Telnet using domain access your computer has an IP address as you are directly
connected to the Internet, then the client application executes on the local computer. If Telnet is
used as terminal emulation your computer is not directly on the Internet. Infact it is connected to
the Internet via your Internet access provider's host computer. The Telnet client application runs
on the host computer.
A Telnet Session
Step 1: First establish a connection to the Internet i.e. login on the Internet.
Step 2: Click Start and then select Run (Figure 1.5). The Run dialog box appears.
Figure 1.5 The Start Menu
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Internet and
Web Programming
Step 3: Now enter telnet in the Run dialog box, and then click the OK button (Figure 1.6).
Figure 1.6 The Telnet Window
The Telnet window appears.
Figure 1.7 The Telnet Window
Step 4: Select the Connect option from the above window and the resultant is a drop downmenu.
Figure 1.8 The Connect Pull down Menu
Step 5: From the Connect drop down menu, click the option Remote System. Now you will get
the connect dialog box.
Figure 1.9 The Connect Dialog Box
29
Internet Fundamentals Step 6:
a. In the Host Name box of the Connect dialog box, type the URL or the IP address of the
remote system you want to connect to, e.g., fedworld.gov. This site provides a huge
number of US federal documents of all sorts.
b. In the Port box, specify a port number or service to be used. In normal computer terminology
port refers to a connection between two devices. On the Internet port numbers are used to
identify different types of connection for different services. Normally, for Telnet, the default port
number is 23 but for certain programs you have to specify the port numbers. Therefore, for the
Cookie server the port which deals with quotable quotes is 12345 and so its complete address is:
astro.temple.edu.12345 or
129.32.1.100 12345
i.e., the host waits to receive commands over port 12345. The reason for stating the host
port number is that different port numbers on the same host may receive instructions of
different types and perform accordingly.
c. In the Term Type box, specify terminal type, i.e., the type of terminal you want to emulate.
The most commonly used terminal type is vt100. You can also use tn3270 if you want your
computer to emulate an IBM 3270 computer. But in our example (fedworld.gov) we use the
default terminal type vt100 and the default port. Now click the Connect button.
Figure 1.10 The Connect Dialog Box for the Site Fedworld
Step 7: If the above operation has been successfully performed the remote computer will ask
you to enter the login name and password. In the above case log on as NEW. No
password is required as it allows public access. There are many Telnet sites which allow
public access. For these sites there are no passwords and generally the login names are
displayed on the screen so that the user is not perturbed. If nothing is mentioned then
try using guest as login.
Figure 1.11 The Telnet Site-Fedworld
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Step 8: In case you are able to establish a successful connection you get further information.
1
Figure 1.12 A Successful Connection to the Site Fedworld
Step 9: If you are not able to establish a connection, then you will get the message Connection
Failed or Connection to host lost.
Figure 1.13 Unsuccessful Connection
Step 10: Once all the information required is extracted from the telnet site, then it is always better
to log out and then terminate the Telnet session. A Telnet session can be ended by highlighting
and clicking the Disconnect option under the tab Connect.
Figure 1.14 Disconnecting from Telnet
Student Activity 5
1. Define Telnet.
2. Describe the usage of Telnet.
3. Write a step-wise procedure to establish a Telnet session.
1.10 E-MAIL
Its long since you have sent a letter and you are still waiting for a response. Well continue waiting
as normal postal techniques are slow. But if you are a smart user of the Internet then the entire
31
Internet Fundamentals process of sending mail and getting a response is reduced to a few minutes if the recipient is also
logged on to the Internet. So how is this process followed? Well, just subscribe to any e-mail
software online. This process takes a few minutes and then you can send mail to anyone on the
Internet provided you know his/her e-mail address. E-mail or electronic mail is one of the most
popular applications of the Internet. With e-mail a user can send/receive messages from other users
on different networks provided he has access to the Internet, thus simplifying the communication
system. Before proceeding in depth let us compare e-mail with snail mail or postal mail.
Table 1.2: Comparison between E-mail and Postal mail
Applications of E-mail
1. E-mail is generally used for sending proposals and quoting rates for tenders on the Internet.
2. E-mail can be used for personal communication among friends and family members, especially
if they are situated at the other end of the world.
3. E-mails are being popularly used for sending greetings, not only between business houses
and customers but to individuals also.
4. E-mail on the Internet is very popular among office goers and jobs seekers for sending
resumes for various types of jobs.
Working of E-mail
1. Open any e-mail client and key in the message and the address of the recipient.
2. Click the Send button.
3. This message travels in the form of packets which contains the address of the recipient.
These packets are then routed to the service providers server.
4. When an e-mail message reaches the service providers server, it checks for the validity of
the address. If the address is valid then it sends it forward on the Internet otherwise it
bounces/returns the mail back to the sender.
1. Fast: E-mail takes minutes to deliver messages all
over the world.
2. Cheap: E-mail costs just the cost of a local phone
call.
3. Convenient: In e-mail, for sending the similar
message to many people, only the address book
(on the computer) needs to be ticked and the send
button of the mail is to be clicked.
4. Mode of Travel: E-mail is passed on from one
computer to another over the network. Each
computer on the path routes the message further
until it reaches the right destination.
5. Rate independent of quality and data type:
All sorts of graphics, sound, video, text image and
multimedia files of any length can be sent over the
I nternet.
6. Legal: With the advent of new cyber laws, e-mail
documents are considered legal.
7. Safety: It is debatable but more or less it is as
secure as the postal mail but if you can encrypt
messages then it becomes a little more safer.
8. View of the Document: There is no guarantee
that the e-mail received by the recipient is in the
same form as that sent by the sender but more or
less the message is readable.
9. Unmanageable: When you subscribe to mailing
lists, within no time you tend to receive mail, some
of which may be unwanted and from unknown
sources.
E-MAIL POSTAL MAIL
1. Slow: Snail mail takes longer time to deliver
messages from four to five days to weeks
depending on the destination.
2. Expensive: Snail mail costs as per the National
and International tariff rates.
3. Time Consuming: I n postal Mail, for sending
the same message to many people, the same number
of envelopes with addressses will have to be used
each along with a copy of the message.
4. Mode of Travel: Postal mail makes stops at
different postal stations which come on the way
while travelling by water/road, etc., till it reaches
the destination.
5. Rate Depends on the weight of mailing document
and the destination.
6. Legal: Postal mail documents are valid proofs and
are legal.
7. Safety: It is safe till the time it falls in wrong
hands.
8. View of the Document: There is no change in
the look of the document unless the mail is damaged
physically.
9. Manageable: You get mail from people whom
you generally know though mischief mongers and
advertisers may increase the volume of your mail a
little.
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5. The forwarded mail is now received by the recipients provider and sends it to the mail
server.
6. The forwarded mail is now stored in the recipients mail box.1
7. Once the mail is stored in the mail box, whenever the recipient logs on the Internet and
checks his e-mail account he can read the mail, send a reply, store the e-mail or even delete
it depending on his choice.
Basic Functions provided by all e-mail client software
1. Compose and send mail.
2. View attachments including all sorts of multimedia files by downloading them.
3. Send copies and blind copies of the message to different people.
4. Store different messages in different folders as per the requirement.
5. Subscribe to different newsletters.
6. Add signatures and smileys.
7. Maintain address books.
8. Customise the mail.
9. Inform the sender of the undelivered mail.
10. Communicate directly with other online services like America Online, Compuserve, etc.
Before discussing the various parts of an e-mail client software, let us first subscribe to an e-mail
client.
Subscribing to an E-mail Account
There are various means of getting registered to an e-mail software. Some sites provide free e-mail
accounts while for others a minimal amount needs to be paid.
Some free e-mail sites are:
1. Microsoft Hotmail or http://www.hotmail.com
2. Yahoo! Mail or http://mail.yahoo.com
3. Rediff mail or http://rediffmail.com
4. Usanet or http://www.netaddress.com
5. Technologist mail or http://www.technologist.com
These e-mail services are free as they are supported by advertisers banners flashing across the
screen.
Though you can subscribe to any of the above e-mail clients, in this chapter we will limit our
discussion to the e-mail client Hotmail. Let us now see the actual subscription process in order to
open an account in the e-mail software namely Hotmail.
How to Create an E-mail Account
Step 1: Connect to the Internet.
Step 2: In the address bar of the browser window type www.hotmail.com.
Step 3: When hotmail gets loaded it asks you to sign in. Signing in means entering your login
name/sign-in Name and Password if you already have an account with Hotmail. If you
are registering for the first time then click the button
33
Internet Fundamentals New User? Sign Up Now?
Figure 1.15 Mail Client - Hotmail
Step 4: A form for registering into Hotmail appears. Now enter the required information about
your personal profile, namely:
1. First Name
2. Last Name
3. Language
4. Country/Region
5. State/ Territory
6. Time Zone
7. Gender
8. Birthday
9. Occupation
Figure 1.16 The Hotmail registration form
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Apart from personal information, also enter information regarding the account namely:
Figure 1.17 Account Information Registration Form
1 Sign -in Name
2. Password
3. Secret Question and an answer to it. This is required for the reason if you forget you
password then in order to access your account the system. Prompts you with the secret
question and if you give the right answer then your account can be recovered.
Some of these fields are optional while others are essential.
Step 5: Next, click on the Sign up button.
Step 6: This form is then sent to the Hotmail server via the Internet where it is authenticated.
During authentication it checks if the login name entered is unique (i.e., no other person
has registered by the same login name) and if all the relevant information is complete. If
there is some omission then the system prompts the user to enter it again. If the server
finds that the login name already exists then the system flashes a message. For example,
you enter a login name as sanjeevgupta. The system flashes then it sends a message
Registration Error. Were sorry someone has already selected sanjeevgupta. Hotmail
now provides a list of similar names for login name. It is now upto the user to select one
of the options provided or try another name. After selecting the name click Submit New
Sign-In Name. Let us now sign in with the name profgupta.
Figure 1.18 Login Name Already Exists
35
Internet Fundamentals Step 7: If the formalities are complete and the loginnume is unique, then the sytem sends a
confirmation message by displaying Sign Up Successful. Congratulations. In this way
an e-mail Account is created with Hotmail. Remember your e-mail identity and password.
As now onwards, whenever you want to access your e-mail account you will require
them. As you click Continue at Hotmail button, the e-mail Client Interface opens up.
Figure 1.19 Confirmation of Registration
Step 8: If at any time you want to log out then click the sign out option in theHotmail Interface.
On doing so you get a confirmation message.
Figure 1.20 Signing Out From Hotmail
Student Activity 6
1. What is E-mail?
2. Differentiate between e-mail and postal mail.
3. Describe various applications of e-mail.
4. What are the basic functions provided by all e-mail client software?
5. How will you subscribe to an e-mail account?
6. How will you create an E-mail Account?
1.11 GOPHER
Gopher is a protocol designed at the University of Minnesota to search, retrieve, and display
documents from remote sites on the Internet. Users interact with Gopher via a hierarchy menusand
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can use full-text searching capabilities of Gopher to identify desired documents. It allows one to
move around the globe looking for information in various information centres or libraries or servers.
Gopher actually goes out, gets the information desired, and puts the information on the screen.
A Gopher offers access to the libraries with library catalogues in different countries. The Internet
gives access to the bibliographic records of millions of books, and details on the holdings of
academic and research libraries around the world. One can also check on new and interesting
titles, and even order them from a number of libraries. Gopher was created as a piece of software
to utilise some of the services that were becoming available on the Internet. The integration of
many services into Gopher has made the Internet an easier medium to navigate.
When Gopher first appeared, we could access it only through a Gopher client program. Nowadays,
users can access the Gopher sites using the web browsers. The main advantage of using a
Gopher client is that it comes with a built-in list of Gopher addresses.
1.12 SEARCH ENGINE
Traversing the Internet is simple if the address of the website is known but what happens if the
websites address is not known? The best thing about the Internet is that it has a vast pool of
resources and the worst thing is that if an Internet user does not know efficient searching
techniques then he will be wasting a lot of time and energy. To overcome this, the Internet
provides surfers with many search tools to locate information on the Internet. For example, a web
surfer may want some information regarding leather bags. What should he do? Whom should he
ask? A simple solution would be to get connected to the Internet and type in the URL of any
search tool and then perform a search on the relevant keyword/phrase. In our case the search
phrase is leather bags. The search tool then matches the keyword and gives a list of websites
containing the relevant information. Now the user can open any website on that list just by
clicking the hypertext link associated with it. Easy isn't it?
Types of Search Tools
There are basically five ways by which you can perform a search on the Internet, namely:
1. Search Engines.
2. Meta Search Engines.
3. Web Directories.
4. Virtual Libraries.
5. Certain useful web services.
A search engine is a collection of programs that gathers information from the Web, indexes it, and
puts it in a database so that it can be searched. The search engine takes the keywords or phrases
you enter in the search form and then searches the database attached to it with the search phrase.
If it does not find any match then it returns a message No Match Found, otherwise it returns
hyperlinks to sources which contain the search phrase along with a brief description of the site
containing the search phrase. Search engines contain a computer program called spider or
crawleror bot or robot which is responsible for building up the database attached with each
search engine. Different spiders collect information using different techniques and from different
resources. Some robots are intelligent as they can also find synonyms of the keywords and so
results matching those synonyms will also be displayed. Others can automatically remove articles
and prepositions from the key phrase and then perform the search. Still others can find the
meaning of the key phrase and display results which in essence mean the same.
How to use a Search Engine
We can begin with an example of a simple search with the help of a search engine keeping in mind
the example discussed in the introduction of this chapter.
Step 1: To begin with enter the URL of a search engine like www.khoj.com and then press the
<Enter>key.
Step 2: Type in the keywords leather bags in the search box next to Search button.
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Internet Fundamentals
Figure 1.21 Searching the Web for Information on Leather Bags
Step 3: Clicking the Search button a large number of hyperlinks are retrieved. These hypertext links
are listed in accordance to the relevance of the search query from most to least relevant.
Figure 1.22 Search Results on Leather Bags
Step 4: Click any hyperlink which looks relevant to you and that particular site will open. Let us
try the hyperlink leather bags (option 4). If the site contains the information you want
then its fine, but what if the information contained is not exactly what you want. Do not
fret! J ust click on the Back button which takes you back to the search results. Click
another hyperlink to open another site. Now wasnt that simple!
Figure 1.23 Clicking on the Hyperlink Leather bags
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Some facts associated with Search Engines
1. Spider Class: Some search engines are able to traverse down the entire length of the
website, no matter how many the levels of directories. These are called Deep Spider Class
search engines. A shallow spider can only go to the given URL or can go at the most one
step further by entering the URLs in a single level of directories. Therefore, depending on
the spider class associated with each search engine the results will be displayed.
2. Search Results: Different search engines use different searching techniques. Some provide
features like phrase search, for example, boolean operators. Some search engines will
search for the word boolean and another for the word operators in websites whereas
others will look only in those websites where the words boolean and operators are written
together. Therefore by phrase search, we mean that search should be performed on the
phrase as a single entity.
3. Boolean Operators: Certain search engines support boolean operators like AND, OR,
NOT, etc. to narrow down the search. Sometimes AND is implied as +and NOT is implied
as for example, a search phrase like animal and cats will result in sites which contain
information about cats which is an animal. In the search phrase if only the key word cats
had been used then not only information about the animal cat would be returned but a list
of all websites containing the word cat like Cats Computers, Cats Accessories, Cats and
Dogs Boutique will also be listed.
4. Proximity Searching: There are certain operators called proximity operators like NEAR
and WITHIN which further help to get relevant results. For example, if you want to know
how earthquakes affect life, then type in the search phrase as Earthquake NEAR life. By
giving this query what the search engine actually does is display those results where these
words appear in the same document close to each other rather than pages apart.
5. Wild Cards: Some search engines allow you to use wild card characters like `*`. Suppose
you want to find out information regarding both 'MAN' and 'MEN', you could use in your
search query the word M*N. This would give you results related to both.
6. Media/Field Search: There are certain search engines which allow you to limit your search
only to a particular type of a media/field, e.g., if you want the image of the National Flag of
India then you could specify this to the search engine so that only images or video clips
could be searched for the right information.
7. Case Sensitivity: Certain search engines are case sensitive. In other words, they differentiate
capital letters from lower case letters. This is particularly useful if you are dealing with
proper names, e.g., if you are trying to locate the website of a 'Hotel' 'called' 'The Park' and
if the search engine is not able to distinguish between upper and lower cases then information
regarding gardens and parks will also be listed.
8. Sorted and Relevant Results: Search engines generally return those results in which the
contents closely match the users request. Therefore the most relevant sites are displayed
first and then the less relevant ones. Again some search engines allow you to sort your
result date-wise.
9. Summaries: Generally, when search results are displayed, a summary of sites are also
displayed along with hypertext links. Web search engines support hypertext linking, hence
users are able to link directly to the resources and the results get displayed.
10. Other Facilities: Some search engines can detect duplicate instances of the same page
and then remove them. Thus with certain search engines you can specify the number of
search results to be displayed in a page. Again, most of the search engines provide the
facility to further refine the search or modify it.
There are many search engines. A few of them are:
1. Alta Vista (http://www.altavista.com)
2. Excite (http://www.excite.com)
3. Google (http://www.google.com)
39
Internet Fundamentals 4. Hot Bot (http://www.hotbot.com)
5. Infoseek (http://www.infoseek.com)
6. Khoj (http://www.khoj.com)
7. Lycos (http://www.lycos.com)
8. Megellan (http://www.mckinley.com)
9. Northern Light (http://www.northernlight.com)
10 Rediff (http://www.rediff.com)
11. Web Crawler (http://www.webcrawler.com)
12. Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com)
1.13 PLUG INS AND HELPER PROGRAMS
Web browsers are limited in their capabilities as far as interprating those documents which are not
in HTML format. However, a browser can be extended in its capability by adding small applications
programs.
Such programs that run within the browser are known as plugins. A number of plugins are
available from various vendors. Some such plugins are:
Media Player
Acrobat Reader
Shock Wave etc.
Another group of programs which also extends the capability of a browser independently, are
know as helper applications or helper programes. Some of such programes are :
MP3 player
Download Accelerator
Student Activity 7
1. Define Gopher.
2. Define Search Engine.
3. Name various type of search tools.
4. How will you use a search engine ?
5. Give some facts associate with search engine.
6. Name any five common search engine.
7. What are plug-ins and helper programs ?
1.14 FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL
FTP stands for file transfer protocol. It is a means of transferring files between computers of
different types across a network. A protocol is a language that enables computers to speak to one
another. FTP is used to make files and folders publicly available for transfer over the Internet.
Standard commands are used to connect to computers, which hold files. These computers are
called FTP servers. In some cases you may need to get permission from the network computers
administrator to log on and gain access to files on the computer. But often you will find that you
can use FTP to gain access to certain networks or servers without having an account, or being an
official password holder, with that computer. These anonymous FTP servers can contain a
broad range of data that is publicly available through FTP. Most FTP software are shareware but
some are available free of cost. A collection of files available at any anonymous FTP site is called
FTP archive. It may be difficult to search for FTP sites. Therefore, we use Archie. Archie is a
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database of anonymous FTP sites. Archie keeps a record as to what file is stored in which
database so that if the user knows a filename then, with the help of Archie, he can find out where
that resource is located. With FTP you can upload and download files. File uploading is the
procees of moving a file from your computer to some remote computer. File downloading is the
process of moving a file from a remote computer to your own.
The general format for ftp is
ftp://name_of_ftp_site/directory_name/file_name
For example,
1. Microsoft has an anonymous FTP server at ftp://ftp.microsoft.com, where you can
download files ranging from product fixes, updated drivers, and utilities to Microsoft
knowledge base articles and other documentation.
2. ftp://ftp.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/images/browse/mars1.gif
The FTP site jpl.nasa.gov holds an image of planet Mars in a file called mars1.gif whose
directory path is pub/images/browse.
3. ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/privacy/medical/aclu_drug_testing_workplace.faq
This FTP site discusses the topic drug testing in the workplace and is paper number 5 of the
organisation ACLU.
FEATURES OF FTP
1. FTP also works on the client server technology. Therefore, you can load, client FTP programs
like CuteFTP, eFTP, and WS_FTP. FTP daemon, which is a server programme, runs on the
FTP server and handles all FTP transactions.
2. FTP servers provide a storage place for useful files and programs.
3. You can log on to these servers and download the files to the local computer. For this you
have to know the server name and where the file is located (sub-directory and filename).
4. On some FTP sites, you can only view or download files. Only the people who run or own
the site can rename, delete, or upload files. For renaming, deleting or uploading files you
may require another different set of logins and passwords.
5. You cannot move files within or between FTP sites. You can move files from an FTP site to
a temporary location on your computer or a network drive and then upload them to another
FTP site or a different folder on the same site.
6. Some programs may support opening and saving files from FTP servers by typing an FTP
address in the File Open or File Save dialog box.
7. It is command driven, therefore, commands like open, get, etc., are used.
WORKING OF FTP
When you log on to the FTP server a connection called a command link is established between
the PC and the server. All commands like changing the directory, downloading files, etc., are sent
from you to the server via this command link. Now when the actual downloading process begins
a second link called the data link gets established. It is over this data link that the actual download
takes place. The connection can open in two modes namely, binary and ASCII. Generally, we use
the binary mode as the file's format does not get changed unlike the ASCII mode. After the file
gets downloaded, the data connection closes automatically. It is only when you log out of the
FTP that the command link gets broken.
Nature of FTP downloads
Types of software that can be downloaded by FTP are:
1. Freeware: These are software that do not involve any costs.
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Internet Fundamentals 2. Shareware: These are complete software which are enabled only for a fixed period of time
after which they automatically get disabled. Therefore, if the user is satisfied with the
product then he can pay a registration fee and become a licensed user of that software.
3. Demoware: This is a minature or demo version of the original software. It is just enough to
show the functionality of the package but many values are limited. This type of software is
generally provided to the users so that they can test the software before purchasing it.
4. Patches/Upgrades: This includes only a programme or a few programmes which when
applied to the main software may add a new module or may remove a bug from the main
software.
Though there are many FTP clients we will discuss one of the most popular FTP programs
CuteFTP.
FTP Client CuteFTP
CuteFTP is one of the fastest and easiest way to transfer files across the Internet. Whether you
are publishing a web page, downloading the latest digital music and software, or transferring
high-volume files between branch offices, CuteFTP provides the tools you need to make your life
on the Internet more enjoyable and productive.
Characteristics
1. CuteFTP has a user-friendly interface.
2. It is fast and reliable.
3. It is browser integrated, i.e., CuteFTP automatically launches when you click on an FTP
URL.
4. It is a shareware with 30-days trial period free of cost.
5. It has a site manager which is password protected, login dependent and can be encrypted.
6. CuteFTP is compatible with Firewalls, which are used to provide security to your computer
system/network against viruses and illegal access.
7. It helps in uploading and downloading files and simply draging and droping files between
local and remote computers.
8. CuteFTP includes CuteHTML which is an HTML editor that enables you build a web page.
9. CuteFTP also has a scheduler so that you can easily automate daily uploads, downloads,
renames, etc., with CuteFTPs built-in scheduler.
10. It has a Transfer Queue to select multiple files from various sites and queue them for later
transfer. The queue transactions may also be edited, saved, and added to the scheduler.
11. Persistent File Transfers facility in CuteFTP allows to auto-reconnect and resume a transfer
until the file requested has been uploaded or downloaded, ensuring you get the file transfer
completed.
An FTP Session with cuteFtp
Step 1: In order to connect to your FTP site, you must be connected to your ISP. Unless you are
connected to your ISP before you launch CuteFTP, you will not be able connect to any FTP site.
Step 2: To start CuteFTP, click the CuteFTP icon that was created during installation. The FTP
Site Manager window will be displayed (Figure 1.24). This is where you will enter the FTP server
information to connect to the remote computer where your files will reside. To connect to any of
these sites, follow the next step.
Step 3: Click the Connect button.
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Internet and
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Figure 1.24 FTP Site Manager
Step 4: Configure your FTP connection. In the FTP Site Manager window, select a folder from the
left window for your site to reside or create a new folder by clicking the Add Folder button. Enter
a folder name and click the OK button. Next, highlight the newly created or selected folder, and
click the Add site button. This will bring up the Edit Host where your server information will be
stored (Figure 1.25). The four entries that will be covered here are given below:
Figure 1.25 Host Screen Form
43
Internet Fundamentals a. Site Label box
b. Host Address box
c. User ID box
d. Password box
a. Site Label Box: This box will identify your site so that you can easily access your FTP
server from the Site Manager. You can label it whatever you want.
b. Host Address Box: This is where you enter the FTP server address (i.e., host address, FTP
address, server address, IP address, etc.). You must obtain this FTP server address from the
service provider who will be hosting your web pages.
(c) User ID Box: Your server administrator provides this unique ID. It is case sensitive so be
careful to enter capital and lower case letters correctly. If you do not know what your user
ID is, you can obtain this information from your ISP or service administrator.
(d) Passwords Box: Your server administrator provides this unique password. Like the user
ID, your password is case sensitive, hence ensure capital and lower case letters are typed
correctly. If you do not know what your password is, you can obtain this information from
your ISP or service administrator. You will not be able to see what you are typing in to the
password field, so be careful not to make any mistakes.
Once you have entered this information, click the OK button, which returns you to the FTP Site
Manager window, where your site will be displayed in the right window.
Step 5: In order to connect to the server, highlight the site you have created and click the Connect
button (Figure 1.24). After connecting, you should see a message from your ISP informing you of
rules and regulations of the server. Click the OK button (Figure 1.27) at the bottom of that screen
and the message will be cleared. To modify your server information, highlight your site in the FTP
Site Manager window and click the Edit site button (Figure 1.24). Make your modifications and
click the OK button. You can also rename and delete sites and folders from the FTP Site Manager
window with the corresponding buttons (Figure 1.24).
Figure 1.26 FTP Window
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Figure 1.27 Login Message
Figure 1.28 FTP Window after connect
Step 6: Use CuteFTP Main Screen to move your files to the server. This screen is divided into four
windows: an upper horizontal window, two lower vertical windows, and a bottom horizontal
window (Figure 1.28).
45
Internet Fundamentals (a) Upper Window (Log): This is where the command CuteFTP gives the server as well as the
server's responses are displayed (Figure 1.28).
(b) Lower Left Window (Local): The lower left window displays the selected directory from
your hard drive (Figure 1.28). By default, it should display the contents of your CuteFTP
directory. Locate the directory beneath the root where your HTML files (or whatever files
you want to upload) are located. Once you are in the correct directory you will see your files
displayed in that left window.
(c) Lower Right Window (Remote): The lower right window displays the files and directories
on your server (Figure 1.28). You are now viewing the hard disk drive contents of a remote
computer. Although there are probably many directories above this, the server limits you to
your directory and to any sub directories you create beneath your virtual root.
(d) Bottom Window (Queue): The queue window is used for temporary storage of files you
wish to transfer at a later time. You can browse a remote site, and drag and drop files from
different directories into the queue window. Once you have chosen your files, you can
batch transfer them by clicking on Queue/Transfer option. All preliminary actions have
now been accomplished and the files can be moved to the server.
There are five methods of moving the files to the server:
(a) Method One: This is the drag and drop method. Highlight the file(s) on your local drive that
you want to upload. Use your left mouse button to "grab" the highlighted file(s) and drag
it (them) to the right window and drop it (them) anywhere in that window. By default, you
will receive a prompt to "upload selected file?". Click the OK button after you have verified
the file name(s). The upper window will display commands, status, and the server's response
to your commands.
(b) Method Two: Highlight the files you want to upload in the left screen and then click the
Upload button located at the top of the CuteFTP screen below the Menu Bar. It looks like
an arrow pointing up. If that button is not highlighted, you have failed to highlight the files
you want to upload. When you click the Upload button, the Confirm Upload screen, as in
the previous method, will prompt you. You may accomplish the same thing by selecting
commands/upload from the Menu Bar.
(c) Method Three: Double click the file you want to upload. By default CuteFTP takes that
action as a Transfer File request.
(d) Method Four: Highlight the file you want to upload and Right click it. Left click the upload
option in the Menu that appears. Continue as in the previous methods.
(e) Method Five: If you have transferred the files to the queue, and you are ready to upload
them to the server, click Queue/Transfer Queue. As CuteFTP auto-refreshes the remote
directory, you should now see your files on the right side (remote side) of the screen. If the
files seem to be uploading (the log is showing lots of commands), but you do not see the
files displayed on the server, then there can be a problems. Scroll up the log in the upper
window using the scroll bar. Any entries in red such as a "Permission Denied" is an
indication that you are not being allowed to upload the file(s) and you will need to contact
your ISP or service administrator. When you see your files on the right hand side, you have
completed the file transfer. You can now type in your URL or web page address in your
browser and you should see the web page corresponding to the HTML file(s) you uploaded.
FTP Commands
There are basically six FTP commnds which are :
1. OPEN: This opens a communication channel between your computer and the FTP server.
2. CLOSE: This informs the remote computer that the job is over.
3. CD: This helps to change directory on the FTP server since the required file may be on
another directory.
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4. DIR : It gives the directory listing of the current directory.
5. GET: With this command you retrieve the file from the remote computer to your own. Here
you have to specify the entire path of the file.
6. PUT: This lets you send one or more files from your computer to the remote computer.
1.15 SUMMARY
Web pages run your server programs through a server feature called common Gateway
Interface.
The programs that run on the server under the feature are called CGI Scripts for historical
reasons.
The eariest way to envision a CGI program is to imagine that it is part of Web Server.
There is no difference between a URL that corresponds to a static document and one that
corresponds to a CGI programs.
CGI program must be written to follow the servers guidelines.
Unlike a conventional computer program, a CGI program does not write output on a users
screen.
A CGI program does not receive input from a keyboard or a mouse the browser handles all
interaction with the user.
CGI programs can also keep a record of which corporate web pages a user visits and
choose advertisements that suits the users.
An active document is a computer program that points an image on a screen.
To pass data from forms to server scripts, you use special attributes within the various form
tags.
A modem is a device, which is used to convert digital signals to analog signals so that they
can be transferred over the standard telephone line.
A cable modem enables you to attach your PC to a local cable TV line and receive data at
approx. 3.5 mbps.
An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is an organization or business offering public access to
the Internet.
Browsers are sometimes also called web clients, since they get information from a server.
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator, which is simply an address of a document on
the web or, more accurately, on the Internet. A URL will be shorter and include less
information if the file is on your local computer or server. Basically URLs fall into two
categories absolute and Relative.
The need to augment internet security is being alarmingly realized with the emergence of E-
commerce.
Firewall is a collection of components or a system placed between two networks. A firewall
basically performs two important functions : gatekeeping and monitoring.
Telnet is a Standard Internet protocol for remote terminal Connection Service. Generally
Telnet is used in order to retrieve : Special information from a remote database, weather
reports, Library catalogs, Departmental stores catalogs, E-mail while touring, Information
from other Internet tools like FTP, Gopher, etc.
Gopher is a protocol designed at the University of Minnesota to search, retrieve and
display documents from remote sites on the Internet. A Gopher offers access to the libraries
with library catalogues in different countries.
47
Internet Fundamentals There are basically five ways by which you can perform a search on the Internet, namely :
Search Engines, Meta Search Engines, Web Directories, Virtual Libraries, Certain useful
web services.
1.16 KEYWORDS
(CGI) Common Gateway Interface : Server feature through which web pages run the server
programs.
Forms : The webpage with blank areas in which the user enter information.
Modem (Modulator-Demodulator) : A device used to convert digital signals to analog signals and
vice versa.
Cable Modem : A device that enables to attach the PC to a local cable TV line and receive data at
approximately 3.5 mbps.
(ISP) Internet Service Provider : An organization or business offering public access to the
Internet.
HomePage : The first page of a website.
Website : A collection of webpages.
Web Browser : A www client which sends the request to the web server.
(URL) Uniform Resource Locator : Address of a document on the web or Internet.
Firewall : A collection of components or a system placed between two networks which acts as an
electronic barrier to stop unauthorized entry.
Telnet : A Standard Internet protocol for remote terminal connection service.
E-mail (Electronic mail) : An application of Internet used to send / service messages to / from
other users on different networks provided he has access to the Internet.
Gopher : An Internet protocol used to search, retrieve, and display documents from remote sites
on the Internet.
Search Engine : A collection of programs that gathers information from the web, indexes it, and
puts it in a database so that it can be searched.
Plug-ins : Programs that run within the browser.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) : FTP is a set of rules for transferring files on the Internet.
1.17 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Fill in the blanks :
a. Web pages run server programs through a server feature called the .......................
b. ....................... make it possible to enter data directly.
c. The two methods of passing data that a script may use are .................... and ....................
d. Browsers are also called .......................
e. A URL can be ....................... or .......................
f. ....................... and ....................... are important aspects of firewall design.
g. ....................... and ....................... are helper programs.
2. How is CGI helpful in advertising ?
3. List some facilities provided by an ISP.
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4. Describe the functioning of Gopher.
5. What can you send through E-mail?
6. What is the advantage of Telnet ?
7. Compare shell account and TCP / IP account.
8. Describe various elements of a URL.
Answers to Review Questions
1. (a) CGI (b) Forms (c) GET, POST (d) Web clients
(e) absolute, relative (f) Gate keeping, monitoring
(g) MP3 player, Download Accelerator
1.18 FURTHER READINGS
Ed Titled ; Foundations of Worldwide Web Programming with HTML and CGI ; 1995, IDG Books
Worldwide.
Herbert Schildt ; Java: The Complete Reference, J2SE TM ; 2005, Mc Graw-Hill Professional.
J im Farley ; OReilly, Java distributed Computing.
Robert W. Bill ; Jython for Java Programmers ; 2001, Sam Publishing.
UNIT
2
HTML
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe HTML and its various versions.
Create an HTML document.
Understand the Basic Structure of an HTML document.
Use various presentation controls.
Insert various types of list in the web page.
Add pictures and images in the web page.
Display wall paper in the background or set a background colour.
Create forms.
Link web pages and publish documents.
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
2.1 Introduction
2.2 HTML - An Introduction
2.3 Creating a Web Page
2.4 Basic Structure of an HTML Document
2.5 Lists
2.6 Adding Pictures
2.7 Absolute vs Relative Pathnames
2.8 Image Attributes
2.9 Text Tags
2.10 Introduction to Forms
2.11 Interactive Layout with Frames
2.12 Linking Web Pages and Publishing
2.13 Summary
2.14 Keywords
2.15 Review Questions
2.16 Further Readings
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the language of World Wide Web pages. The formats
that apply to text, headings, and graphics on Web pages are controlled by HTML. HTML's
popularity has brought hypertext technology the technology that lets you jump from topic to
topic, rather than finding and reading information linearly to the fingertips of people worldwide,
particularly in the context of the World Wide Web.
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2.2 HTML - AN INTRODUCTION
HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. HTML represents a way to take ordinary text
and turn it into hypertext by just adding special elements called markup tags that tell Web
browsers how to display a Web page's contents.
The main goal of HTML is to be a universal language for classifying the function of different
sections of a document. It is designed to work on a wide variety of platforms. HTML and the Web
were first conceived in 1989 by a researcher named Tim Berners-Lee who worked for CERN, the
European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Geneva, Switzerland. The Web pioneers, led by
Berners-Lee, regrouped into the Word Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in December 1994. The W3C
is now responsible for the standards of HTTP, HTML, and other Web technologies.
HTML is one member of a family of markup languages called SGML. SGML was developed by the
International Organization for Standards in 1986 to define markup languages designed for various
different purposes. Every language in the SGML family conforms to certain requirements, the
main one being that all of the symbols are strictly defined using a DTD, or Document Type
Definition. The DTD for HTML defines what tags are available and how they can be used. HTML
shares important characteristics with its SGML parent:
A character based method for describing and expressing content.
A desire to deliver that content equally to multiple platforms.
A method for linking document components together to compose compound documents.
HTML : The first version of HTML was just called HTML. The basic tags have not
changed much. HTML has tried to stay backward compatible so that new
versions of HTML do not contradict old versions.
HTML + : Dave Raggett worked on a successor to HTML called HTML +in 1993. Although
it was never an official specification, many of its ideas were incorporated into
HTML 2.0.
HTML 2.0 : A specification for HTML 2.0 was created in July 1994, and after editing by Dan
Cannolly, HTML 2.0 became a standard approved by IETF in November 1994.
HTML 2.0 was the first popular version of HTML and the massive explosion of
Web popularity took place from late 1994 to 1995 using Web pages written in
HTML 2.0. HTML 2.0 was criticized for not containing more formatting
commands.
HTML 3.2 : HTML 3.2, originally code-named "Wilbur", became finalized in January 1997.
HTML 3.2 was immediately popular, mostly because it supported existing
practices in a logical way and was more compatible with HTML 2.0. It added
support for tables. IE3 and Netscape 3 supported HTML 3.2 almost completely.
HTML 4.0 : Code-named "Cougar", HTML 4.0 is the latest version of HTML. The largest
difference between HTML 4.0 and previous versions of HTML is the character
set. HTML 4.0 uses a character set called "Unicode" that allows thousands of
different characters. HTML 4.0's specification strongly encourages the use of
style sheets and discourages tags and attributes that are solely for formatting,
visual appearance, and layout. HTML 4.0 also introduces the <OBJ ECT>tag,
which is used to present multimedia.
Document Overview
HTML documents are essentially plain text files. They contains no images no sounds, no video,
and no animations; however, they can include "pointers", or links, to these other file types, which
is how Web pages end up looking as if they contain non-text elements.
HTML itself is a system of codes made up of tags and attributes that serve to identify parts and
characteristics of HTML documents. Some tags provide document structure; others reference
other files. Attributes provide additional information within tags. HTML tags identify logical
document parts that is, the major structural components are part of the HTML documents
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HTML such as headings, lists, and paragraphs. For example, if you want to include a heading, a paragraph,
and a list in your document, you type the text and apply the appropriate tags to the text.
How structural components exactly appear on your computer screen depends on the browser.
Some tags work in conjunction with attributes, which provide additional information about an
element, such as how elements should align (left, centre, or right), what other file should be
accessed, or even the colour of an element. For example, an attribute might indicate that a heading
should appear centred in the browser window, that the browser should load an image file from the
Web, or that the Web page background should appear sky blue.
HTML is made up of tags and attributes, which work together to identify document parts and tell
browsers how to display them. Tags identify document parts by specifying, for example, that a
chunk of information be displayed as a heading. Attributes are optional parts of tags and modify
or specify information in tags, such as colour, alignment, height, or width.
Adding Tags
Tags are easy to read and use once you become familiar with their components. First, all tags are
composed of elements that are contained within angle brackets (<>). The angle brackets simply
tell browsers that the text between them is a HTML command. A tag with its angle brackets looks
like this:
<TAG>
Second, most tags are paired, with an opening tag (<TAG>) and a closing tag (</TAG>). Both
tags look alike, except the closing tag also includes a forward slash (/). To apply tags to information
in your document, place the opening tag before the information, and place the closing tag after
the information, like this:
<TAG> information that the tag apply to </TAG>)
Including Attributes
Attributes provide extra information about a tag. For example, if you apply a heading tag (<H1>)
to a line of text, like this:
<H1> A heading goes here </H1>
You can further specify that it should be centred by using an attribute, like this:
<H1 ALIGN = "Centre"> A centred heading goes here </H2>
As a general rule, most attributes those that include only letters, digits, hypens, or periods
work fine without quotes. For example, you can type ALIGN =CENTRE or ALIGN ="CENTRE";
all browsers should display these in the same way.
Attributes that have other characters, such as spaces, or #signs, however, do require, quotes.
For example, if you use the WIDTH =attribute to indicate percentage of the document window,
type WIDTH ="75%".
Applying Structure Tags
Structure tags provide browsers with information about document characteristics, such as the
version of HTML used, introductory information about the document, and the title. Most structure
tags, although part of the HTML document, do not appear in the browser window. Instead,
structure tags work "behind the scenes" and essentially tell the browser which elements to
include and how to display them.
All HTML documents should include five structure tags, nested and ordered.
2.3 CREATING A WEB PAGE
HTML syntax describes how a Web browser recognizes and interprets the instructions contained
in the markup tags. The special control characters that separate HTML markup from ordinary text
are the left and right angle brackets: <>. Inside the browser software, a parser reads and
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constructs display information. It instructs the browser to take appropriate action based on the
markup it finds. In HTML, left and right angle brackets can enclose all kinds of special instructions
called tags.
A tag takes a generic form that looks something like this:
<Tag Name {Attribute {="Value"} ...} > Text {</Tag Name>}
(Text within tags is case insensitive)
<TAG NAME> : All HTML tags have names. For example, H1 is a level-one
header; OL is an ordered list. Tags are surrounded by angle
brackets to mark their contents for special attention from the
parser.
{ATTRIBUTE {="VALUE}...} : Some HTML tags require or permit named attributes to be
associated with them. Some attributes require that value be
associated with them.
For example, in an <IMG>tag (used to point to a graphics
file), a required attribute is SRC (Source), to provide a pointer
to the file where the graphic resides, as in IMG SRC ="../
gifs/redball.gif.">(...) indicates that some HTML tags may
include multiple attributes, each of which may or may not
take a value.
Text : This is content that is modified by a tag. For example, if the
tag were a document title, the HTML string <TITLE>UPTEC
Computer Consultancy Ltd. </TITLE>would display the
text in the title bar at the top of a graphical browser's window.
{</TAG NAME>} : A closing tag name is denoted by a left angle bracket (<),
followed by a forward slash (/), then the tag name, and finally
a closing right angle bracket (>); curly braces indicate that
this element does not always occur.
The ampersand (&) is another special HTML control character. It is used to denote a special
character for HTML content that may not belong to a 7-bit ASCII character set. Such tagged items
are called character entities. Some HTML elements have no content. For example, the horizontal
rule element (which uses the <HR>start tag) has no content; its only role is to create a line.
Elements with no content are called "empty elements", and they never have end tags.
First HTML Example
To create this HTML example, just start your text editor and type in the following HTML code and
save it as S11.htm.
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE> A Hello World Example in HTML </TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
Hello, World !
</BODY>
</HTML
Netscape Navigator will display this code as a simple web page.
53
HTML
Student Activity 1
1. Define HTML.
2. Describe various version of HTML.
3. What is a tag ?
4. What are attributes ?
5. Describe various control characters of HTML.
2.4 BASIC STRUCTURE OF AN HTML DOCUMENT
Well structured HTML documents come in these three parts:
1. A head that identifies a document as HTML and establishes its title.
2. A body that contains the content for a Web page. This part holds all displayed text on a
page, as well as most links to graphics, multimedia, locations inside the same file, and to
other Web documents.
3. A footer that labels a page by identifying its author, date of creation, and version number.
Defining HTML Documents with the HTML Element
One should bracket an entire HTML document by the identification tags <HTML>, to open the
document, and </HTML>, to close it. These tags identify the DTD for the document to an SGML
sensitive program, to allow the program to interpret a document's contents properly. An optional
line may sometimes precede a document head. It is called a document type prolog and describes,
in SGML, that the HTML document complies to the indicated level of the HTML DTD.
e.g.: <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 3.2// EN">
It indicates that the HTML document confirms to the HTML 3.2 DTD distributed by the Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF). You can also tell that the DTD is PUBLIC and is not system
dependent. Finally, you can tell that the HTML tag set is defined by the English language (the EN
in the DOCTYPE statement).
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Describing Documents with the Head Element
The head element is used to mark the position of the head section. The head section contains
elements that define certain information about an HTML document, such as what its title is, who
the author is, and reference information about the document. To create a head element, start with
<HEAD>tag, then include all of the elements you want in your head section, then end the head
element with a </HEAD>tag.
Naming Documents with the Title Element
Titles are displayed by browsers on the top of the page, usually in the title bar. Every HTML
document must have a title contained in a <TITLE>start tag and a </TITLE>end tag. For
example:
<HEAD>
<TITLE> A Hello World Example in HTML </TITLE>
</HEAD>
Wrapping Your Content with the Body Element
The real content for any HTML document occurs in the body section, which is enclosed between
<BODY>and </BODY>tags.
Two Categories of Body Elements
There are two basic categories of HTML elements used in the body section:
Block-Level Elements
Text-Level Elements
Block-Level Elements
Block-level elements are used to define groups of text for a specific role. They include tags that
position text on the page, begin new paragraphs, set heading levels and create lists. Some
commonly used block-level elements and their tags are:
Paragraph: <P> and </P>
Heading, level one: <H1> and </H1>
Heading, level two: <H2> and </H2>
Horizontal rule: <HR>
Centreing: <CENTER>
Text-Level Elements
Text-level elements are for mark up bits of text, including creating links, inserting things likeimages
or sounds, and changing the appearance of text. Some commonly used text-level elements are:
Bold: <B>and </B>
Italic: <I>and </I>
Line-break: <BR>
Link anchor: <A HREF ="URL">and </A>
Image: <IMG SRC ="URL">
Footer
Technically speaking, HTML does not include a separate tag to denote a page footer. But it is
recommended because a good footer helps to identify a document's vintage and contents and let
interested readers contact the author if they spot errors or want to provide feedback.
55
HTML e.g.: Type the following HTML code, and save it as S12.htm in your web folder.
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE> Rupert's Fabulous T-shirt Company </TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<HI> Welcome to Rupert's Fabulous T-shirts! </H1>
<H2> Fabulous T-shirts Since 1752 </H2>
Our Company, <B>Rupert's Fabulous T-shirt Company </B>, is your <B><I>second-best
choice </I></B>for T-shirts. (The best choice is <A HREF ="http://WWW. inkyfingers.com/">
Inky Fingers </A>.)
Write us at: <BR>
555 Garment Way <BR>
Alameda, (A 94412
<P>
(all us at (510) 555-9912. <I> <B> We're here to help: </B> </I>
<IMG SRC = "http://www.emf.net/~estephen/images/turle shirts.jpg")
<HR>
<CENTER> Why not visit <A
HREF = "http: //www.yahoo.com/"> Yahoo</A>?
</CENTER>
</BODY>
</HTML>
Student Activity 2
1. Describe the basic structure of an HTML document.
2. What is the function of <TITLE>tag ?
3. What are block-level elements ?
4. What are text-level elements ?
5. What is the advantage of inserting a footer in an HTML document ?
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Presentation Controls / Text Presentation Tags
Presentation tags alter the display of content by affecting properties such as font styles and
horizontal rules.
Using Font-Style Elements
Font-Style elements change the appearance of text. These font-style elements are known as
physical markup. All font-style elements are a subcategory of text-level elements, and they all
require both start and end tags. They can all be nested according to the normal rules of nesting
text-level elements. The seven font-style elements are: bold (<B>), italic (<I>), underline (<U>),
strikeout (<STRIKE>or <S>), big (<BIG>), small (<SMALL>), and teletype (<TT>).
Tag: <B> ... </B>
Tag Name: Boldface
Explanation:
It indicates that the enclosed text is in bold face type. The bold element does not indicate
strong emphasis when read by some text-only or text-to-speech browsers.
Tag: <I> ... </I>
Tag Name: Italic
Explanation:
This element marks up text in italics (text slanted diagonally upward to the right).
It is appropriate to use the italics element to indicate text in a foreign language.
e.g.: <I> corpe diem </I>
NOTE : Remember that its effectiveness fades quickly with overuse. If you are including a
citation or bibliographic resource in your document, use <CITE>instead of <I>.
Tag: <U> ... </U>
Tag Name: Underlined text
Explanation:
The Underline element underlines text.
e.g.: <U> Hello, World ! </U>
Tag: <STRIKE> ... </STRIKE>
Tag Name: Strikethrough
Explanation:
This element indicates that the enclosed text should have a line drawn through the middle
of the text.
Strikethrough text is difficult to read onscreen, so use this tag sparingly. Use <STRIKE>to
show text removed from earlier versions of a document, the old text will appear with a line
through it.
e.g.: <STRIKE> I'm struck ! </STRIKE>
Tag: <BIG> ... </BIG>
Tag Name: Big text
Explanation:
It makes text font one size larger than the <BASEFONT>size.
57
HTML Nesting <BIG>tags can produce text in a larger font than using only one <BIG>tag.
e.g.: <BIG> The Big and Tall Company </BIG>
<BIG> <BIG> The Very Big and Tall Company </BIG> </BIG>
Tag: <SMALL> ... </SMALL>
Tag Name: Small text
Explanation:
This element makes text one size smaller than the basefont size.
Nesting <SMALL>tags can produce text in a smaller font than using only one <SMALL>tag.
e.g.: <SMALL> The Small and Short Company </SMALL>
Tag: <TT> ... </TT>
Tag Name: Teletype text
Explanation:
The Teletype element renders the enclosed text in teletype font. This means that the text
will be monospaced to look like a typewriter font (browsers will often use Courier font by
default).
e.g.: <P>All the vowels on my typewriter are broken. I keep typing in a standard phrase and
it comes out like this: <TT>Th qck brwn fx jmps vr th lz dg </TT>. I think I need a type writer
repairman. </P>
2.5 LISTS
Lists provide methods to lay out item or element sequences in document content.
There are three main types of lists:
Unordered lists
Ordered lists
Definition lists
Ordered lists are numbered in some fashion, while unordered lists are bulleted. Definition lists
consist of a term followed by its definition. Both ordered and unordered lists require start and end
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tags as well as the use of a special element to indicate where each list item begins (the /LI tag). In
addition to these three types of lists, HTML also allows two other types of lists that are not very
commonly used:
Directory lists
Menu lists
Tag: <LI>
Tag Name: List Item
Explanation:
<LI> is a singleton tag.
It is a child element that is used to create a list item in an ordered list, unordered list, menu
list, or dir list.
Attributes: TYPE =(DISC SQUARE CIRCLE) or (1aAiI)
When an ordered list <OL>is used, the <LI>element will be rendered with a number. One
can control that number's appearance with the <TYPE>attribute.
Similarly, inside an unordered list <UL>, one can control the type of bullet displayed with
<TYPE>. VALUE =number changes the count of ordered lists as they progress.
Tag: <UL> ... </UL>
Tag Name: Unordered List (Block-level element)
Explanation:
It creates an unordered list with bullets preceding each list item. Unordered lists can be
preceded by any one of several bullet styles: a closed circle, an open circle, or a square.
Attributes:
COMPACT : Renders the list as compactly as possible by reducing line leading and spacing.
TYPE : (DISC SQUARE CIRCLE)
The type of bullet can be suggested with the <TYPE>attribute. The CIRCLE attribute value
is used for a hollow bullet, the DISC type creates a solid bullet, and the SQUARE attribute
value renders a solid block.
The default appearance for a list is with a disc.
You can use an optional </LI>end tag at the end of each list item.
The following example generates two separate lists:
<TITLE> Two Shopping Lists </TITLE>
<BODY>
<UL>
<LI> Eggs
<LI> Milk
<LI> Apples
<LI> Razor Blades
</UL>
<UL TYPE = "SQUARE">
<LI> Hammer
<LI> Screwdriver
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<LI TYPE = "DISC"> Screws
<LI TYPE = "CIRCLE"> Chainsaw
</UL>
NOTE Some browsers do not recognize the TYPE attribute at all, and most browsers do not
recognize that the TYPE attribute can be used with the <LI>tag. In fact, even IE 4
does not recognize it.
One important aspect of lists is that you can nest one list inside another to create a sublist.
The default appearance of the sublists will vary from the main list, with the first sublist
using circle bullets, and the next nested list using squares. For example:
<UL>
<LI> Body
<UL>
<LI> Head
<LI> Hand
<UL>
<LI> Finger
<LI> Thumb
</UL>
</UL>
<LI> Mind
<UL>
<LI> Brain
<UL>
<LI> Neuron
</UL>
</UL>
<LI> Spirit
<UL>
<LI> Soul
<UL>
<LI> Light body
</UL>
</UL>
</UL>
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Tag: <OL> ... </OL>
Tag Name: Ordered List
Explanation:
These tags are used to create ordered lists. Ordered lists are identical in behaviour to
unordered lists except they use numbers instead of bullets, and you can use an attribute to
start numbering at a number other than one.
Attributes: TYPE = (1 a A i I)
Changes the style of the list
TYPE = "1" (Arabic numbers)
TYPE = "a" (Lowercase alphanumeric)
TYPE = "A" (Uppercase alphanumeric)
TYPE = "i" (Lowercase Roman numbers)
TYPE = "I" (Uppercase Roman numbers)
[Arabic Numbers are the default]
COMPACT : Renders the list as compactly as possible by reducing line leading and spacing.
START = "Value"
Indicates where the list numbering or lettering should begin.
In ordered lists, the <LI>tag can use the VALUE attribute to force to make a particular list
item to have a certain number.
e.g.: <OL>
<LI> Milk
<LI> Bread
<LI> Turkey Bacon
<LI VALUE = "10"> Dark Chocolate
<LI> Avocados
</OL>
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Tag: <DT>
Tag Name: Definition Term
Explanation:
The <DT>tag is a singleton tag. It is a child element and can only be used in a definition list
element. It creates a term that can be defined in a definition list.
Tag: <DD>
Tag Name: Definition
Explanation:
It is a singleton tag which marks the definition/description for a term in a glossary list. It is
used for glossaries or other lists in which a single term or line needs to be associated with
a block of indented text.
Tag: <DL> ... </DL>
Tag Name: Definition List
Explanation:
Definition lists require a start tag (<DL>) and end tag (</DL>) and two special elements:
one for definition terms (the <DT>tag) and one for definition (the <DD>tag). The list is
rendered without bullets.
Attributes:
COMPACT : Renders the list as compactly as possible by reducing line leading and spacing.
e.g.: <DL>
<DT> Term A
<DD> Definition of Term A
<DT> Term B
<DD> Definition Term B
</DL>
Tag: <DIR> ... </DIR>
Tag Name: Directory List
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Explanation:
This block-level element marks unbulleted list of short elements, such as filenames.
e.g.: <DIR>
<LI> Item 1
<LI> Item 2
<LI> Item 3
</DIR>
Tag: <MENU> ... </MENU>
Tag Name: Menu List
Explanation:
It encloses a menu list in which each element is typically a word or short phrase that fits on
a single line.
This list is rendered more compactly than most other list types.
Attributes: COMPACT
Renders the list as compactly as possible by reducing line leading and spacing.
e.g.: <MENU>
<LI> Sourdough
<LI> Butter milk
<LI> Rolls
</MENU>
For both directory and menu lists, the only item that should be contained is a list item
element (the <LI>tag).
<STYLE>
Student Activity 3
1. What are presentation tags ?
2. Describe various presentation tags.
3. Name various types of lists that can be entered in an HTML document.
4. Differentiate between <UL>and <OL>tags.
5. Which three tags let you create the definition lists ?
2.6 ADDING PICTURES
A page of all text and no graphics can be a little boring. To spice up your Web page, consider
adding some pictures. Where do you get pictures to add to your Web page? Use clip art, create
your own pictures with a drawing program or graphics program, load pictures from a digital
camera, or use a scanner to import a drawing or photograph. There are also many Web sites that
offer images free for downloading.
To add a picture, you use the <IMG>(image) tag, entering the tag at the place in the BODY
section of the Web page where you want the graphic to appear. You use the SRC (source)
attribute to specify the name of the file that contains the picture that you want to be displayed on
the Web page, like this:
<IMG SRC="picture.gif">
Before you add a picture to your page, you need to determine where the picture will be stored.
The filename is either an absolute pathname or a relative pathname.
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2.7 ABSOLUTE VS RELATIVE PATHNAMES
An absolute pathname includes the full pathname of the file. This means that if you move your
files or if you change your directory (folder) names, you have to edit every <IMG>tag in every
HTML file that contains the absolute pathname. For that reason, this naming convention is not
recommended.
A relative pathname indicates the pathname of the image file relative to the pathname of the
HTML file. This is the recommended naming convention for graphics files. For example, if your
image file is stored in the same directory as your HTML file, you can use just the image filename
in your <IMG>tag, with no pathname, as in the example in the previous section. If the image file
is in the same directory as your HTML file, but in a subdirectory, include the subdirectory name
in the <IMG>tag, like this:
<IMG SRC="images / picture.gif">
If the image file is stored one directory level up from your HTML file, use two dots (..) in the
pathname to move up a directory level, as follows:
<IMG SRC="../picture.gif">
Some Web authors like to store their frequently used graphics in a directory called images or pix,
so that all the <IMG>tags in all the pages in the rest of the directories of the Web site can refer to
one set of graphics files.
2.8 IMAGE ATTRIBUTES
You can add the following attributes to the <IMG>tag to adjust the picture and control how text
flows around the picture:
Height and width control the size (in pixels) at which the graphic appears on the Web page. These
attributes are options; use them only if you do not like the default size and need to resize the picture.
The Web browser that displays the Web page adjusts the height and width of the graph to the sizes
that you specify. When you use the HEIGHT and WIDTH attributes, make sure that you keep the
same proportions as the original graphic; if you do not, the picture looks like you s- t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d
it either horizontally or vertically. Resizing a graphic to be larger than the original is rare. The larger
the number of pixels, the bigger the picture. For example, the following <IMG>tag displays the
picture in the file picturegif as 30 by 50 pixels, regardless of the size of the stored picture:
<IMG SRT="picture.gif"HEIGHT="30" WIDTH="50">
Using small (but legible) graphics on Web pages is best, because they land faster than large
graphics. To make a graphic small, be sure to use a graphics program to reduce the size of the file.
Do not just change HEIGHT and WIDTH attributes, which do not change the file size (or speed
up downloading time), only the way it is displayed by the browser.
ALIGN controls how text flows around the graphic. Align has five possible values:
TOP places one line of text even with the top of the image.
MIDDLE places one line of text at the middle of the image.
BOTTOM places one line of text even with the bottom of image. Top, Middle, and Bottom are
useful when you have a single line of text that you want placed next to a graphic.
LEFT places the graphic on the left side of the page, with your text paragraph wrapped around the
left side of the graphic. LEFT and RIGHT are useful when you have paragraphs of text that you
want to wrap around a graphic. For example, the following tag displays a picture on the left side
of the Web page, with the surrounding text wrapped around its right side:
<IMG SRC="picture.fig" ALIGN="LEFT">
HSPACE and VSPACE control the amount of white space around the image. Both values are
indicated in pixels. HSPACE sets the amount of space at the left and right of the image; you use this
attribute to control the distance between the text that is wrapped around your graphic and the
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graphic itself. VSPACE sets the amount of space above and below the graphic. The following tag
inserts a picture with 25 blank pixels to either side, and 10 blank pixels above and below the picture:
<IMG SRC="picture.gif" HSPACE="25" VSPACE="10">
BORDER indicates that a border should be placed around the image, and controls the width of
the border. The width is measured in pixels. The next tag inserts a picture with a border that is
three pixels wide (a heavy line):
<IMG SRC="picture.gif" BORDER="3">
ALT contains the text that appears while the picture is loading, or if a user has a browser that does
not display graphics, or if the user has opted not to load graphics when viewing Web pages.
Always include ALT attributes in all image tags, to make your Web site accessible to vision
impaired users, who use special software to read the text on the screen. For example,
<IMG SRC="picture.gif" ALT="Book cover of this week's selection">
Note that you can use as many or as few of the attributes as you need. Only the SRC attribute,
which specifies the filename, is necessary. All attributes are placed in the same <IMG>tag,
separated by spaces. For example, if you decided to use all the attributes listed here, your <IMG>
tag might look like this:
<IMG SRC="picture.gif" JEOGJT="30" Width="50" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="25"
VSPACE="10" BORDER="3" ALT="Book cover of this week's selection">
When readers click the "list of book club members" link, they jump to the Book Club Members
location. You can add an anchor name to jump to an existing anchor in any Web page, like this:
<A HREF=*http://www.sample.com/index.html #members">list of book
club members</A>
2.9 TEXT TAGS
Text tags provide a logical structure for content.
Using Block-Level Elements to Structure the Document
Block-level elements contain blocks of text and can organize text into paragraphs. Block-level
elements, according to the W3C standard for HTML 4.0, should have a line-break or paragraph
break before and after the element. Some common block-level elements are:
headings (<H1> and </H1>, and <H2> and </H2>), paragraphs (<P> and
</P>), horizontal rules (<HR>), and centred text (<CENTER> and </
CENTER>).
Using Text-Level Elements
Text-level elements mark up bits of text, in order to change the appearance or function of that text.
Text-level elements do not start new paragraphs; instead, text-level elements are usually used
within a paragraph. So, text-level elements:
can define character appearance and function.
must be nested in the proper order.
do not generally cause paragraph breaks.
can contain other text-level elements but not block-level elements.
Tag: <ABBR> ... </ABBR> or <ACRONYM> ... </ACRONYM>
Tag Name: Abbreviation
Explanation:
It is a text-level element that indicates that the enclosed text is an acronym or abbreviation.
Attributes: TITLE ="text"
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mouse is over the acronym.
e.g.: I spy for the <ACRONYM TITLE = "Federal Bureau of
Investigation"> FBI </ACRONYM>.
Tag: <BLOCKQUOTE> ... </BLOCKQUOTE>
Tag Name: Blockquote
Explanation:
This tag or block-level element is used for quoting one or more paragraphs from another
source. Navigator and IE indent the entire block of quoted text.
Attributes: CITE = "text"
Provides information about the source of the quote.
e.g.: <P> From the Bridges of the New York City, Queensboro
Ballads by Levi Asher (http: //www.levity.com/brooklyn/index.htm):
<BLOCKQUOTE>
It is not just that everybody hates the city, the more time I spend with these people the more I
understand that they hate everything. Or at least they seem to, because it is the culture of Wall
Street to never show joy.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Tag: <BR>
Tag Name: Line Break
Explanation:
It is a text-level element (an empty element, consisting of the <BR>tag) which forces a line
break in HTML text.
Attributes: CLEAR =(LEFT ALL RIGHT NONE)
LEFT inserts space that aligns the following text with the left margin directly below a left-
aligned floating image.
ALL places the following text past all floating images.
RIGHT inserts space that aligns the following text with the right margin directly below a
right-aligned floating image.
NONE is the default, which does nothing.
e.g.: Hello <BR>
World
Line-breaks are useful for addresses and short items.
Tag: <CITE> ... </CITE>
Tag Name: Short Citation
Explanation:
It is a text-level element used to indicate that enclosed text is a citation (titles of excerpts,
quotes, references) from another source.
Text within <CITE>and </CITE>is usually rendered in italics.
e.g.: <P> I have read and reread <CITE> Moby Dick
</CITE> but I still can not make heads nor tails of it. </P>
Tag: <CODE> ... </CODE>
Tag Name: Code
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Explanation:
It is a text-level element used to enclose programs or samples of code to offset them from
normal text and is usually displayed in a monospaced font.
e.g.: <P> To use the automatic date feature in Excel, just enter
<CODE> = Date ( )</CODE> into a cell </P>.
Tag: <DEL> ... </DEL>
Tag Name: Delete Section
Explanation:
It marks text that has been deleted from a previous version of the Web document.
Attributes: CITE ="URL"
Points to another document that describes why the text was deleted.
DATETIME = YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssTZD
Marks the time when you changed the document. The attribute's value confirms to the
IS08601 time/date specification. The abbreviations shown above refer to the following date
and time information:
YYYY = The year.
MM = The two-digit month for example, "03" for March.
DD = The day.
T = The beginning of the time section.
hh = The hour, in military time (0-23 hours), without pm specifications.
mm = The minute.
ss = The second.
TZD = The time zone.
Z = The Coordinated Universal Time (CUT).
+hh:mm= The local time that is hours (hh) and minutes (mm) ahead of the CUT.
hh:mm= The Local time that is hours (hh) and minutes (mm) behind the CUT.
Tag: <INS>... </INS>
Tag Name: Inserted Section
Explanation:
Identifies sections of a Web page that have been inserted in revision.
Attributes:
Same as that of the <DEL>... </DEL>tag.
<INS CITE ="URL">or <DEL CITE ="URL">
<INS DATETIME ="DATE & TIME">or <DEL DATETIME ="DATE & TIME">
<DEL>... </DEL>and its companion tag <INS>... </INS>were created to show revisions to
web pages.
Both these elements are special hybrid elements. They are unique in this respect - they are
the only two elements used in the body of an HTML document that are not text-level or
block-level elements.
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Example: <H2> Latest News </H2>
<INS DATETIME = "1998-04-22TII:38:00 07:00"
CITE = "http://www.tori.com/updatelog.htm">
<P> We've just received some new information.
<P> Apparently there will be <STRONG> two shows </<
STRONG> on Sunday.
</INS>
<P> The show will Start at 7:00 P.M.
This code marks the middle two paragraphs as new. They were changed on April 22, 1998 at
11:38 a.m.; information about the change can be found at the URL listed in the CITE
attribute.
Tag: <DFN> ... </DFN>
Tag Name: Defined Term
Explanation:
It is a text-level element used to mark terms that appear for the first time in the Web
document. These definitions are often in italics so the user can identify the first occurrence
of the term.
e.g.: <P> It is not strange that <DFN>SGML</DFN> (Standard
Generalized Markup Language) is so similar to HTML.</P>.
By marking your definitions, this way, special software programs can define an index or
glossary for your document.
Tag: <EM> ... </EM>
Tag Name: Emphasis
Explanation:
A text-level element that adds emphasis to enclosed text.
Example: <P> I simply <EM> must </EM> get your recipe for chili,
karen Doason ! </P>
Tag: <KBD> ... </KBD>
Tag Name: Keyboard Text
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Explanation:
It is a text-level element that marks text to be entered by the user at the keyboard.
It changes the type style for all the text it contains, typically into a monospaced font like
those used in character mode computer terminal displays.
e.g.: <P> To start the program, hit the <KBD> S </KBD> key and
press the <KBD> Carriage Return </KBD>, then hold onto your hat!!</
P>
Tag: <P> ... </P>
Tag Name: Paragraph
Explanation:
The paragraph element's <P>tag marks the beginning of a paragraph. The end of a paragraph
can be marked with </P>. It is a block-level element.
Attributes: ALIGN = (LEFTCENTERRIGHTJUSTIFY)
Tag: <PRE> ... </PRE>
Tag Name: Preformatted Text
Explanation:
This block-level element forces the browser to display the exact formatting, indentation,
and white space that the original text contains. This is valuable in reproducing formatted
tables or other text, such as code listings.
Attributes: WIDTH = number
This specifies the maximum number of characters for a line and allows the browser to select
an appropriate font and indentation setting.
Example: <P> morning wind
my hair moves
with the clouds and trees
<PRE> morning wind
my hair moves
with the clouds and trees </PRE>
morning wind
my hair moves with the clouds and trees.
Tag: <Q> ... </Q>
Tag Name: Short Quotation
Explanation:
This element is used to highlight short quotation from outside resources. The quote element
is very similar to the blockquote element; the main difference is that since the quote element
is not block-level, it does not start a new paragraph. Instead, it is used within a paragraph
to mark a quotation.
Attributes: CITE = "text"
Provides information about the source of the quote.
Example: <P>Churchill said, <Q>"We have chosen shame and will get war," </Q>but he
wasn't talking about 1066.</P>
Tag: <SAMP> ... </SAMP>
Tag Name: Sample Text
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This text-level element uses the <SAMP>and </SAMP>tags to indicate sample output
text from a computer program. Like the keyboard element, the sample element's text is often
rendered in a monospaced font; and multiple spaces are collapsed. The keyboard element
is used for text that a user must enter, whereas the sample element is used for text that a
computer generates in response to a user's action.
e.g.: <P> Instead of giving me the expected results, the computer
kept printing <SAMP> All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy </
SAMP> over and over again. I am not sure what it means. </P>
Tag: <STRONG> ... </STRONG>
Tag Name: Strong Emphasis
Explanation:
It is a text-level element that provides strong emphasis for key words or phrases within
normal body text, lists, and other block-level elements. Text within a strong element is
usually rendered as bold or given a strident pronunciation by a text-to-speech reader.
e.g.: <P> I swear, if they do not give me that raise <STRONG>
tomorrow </STRONG>, I quit. </P>
Tag: <SUB> ... </SUB>
Tag Name: Subscript
Explanation:
This text-level element specifies that the enclosed text should be rendered in subscript,
slightly lower than the surrounding text.
e.g.: This line of HTML Code contains the chemical formula for
water:
We all need H<SUB>2</SUB>0
Tag: <SUP> ... </SUP>
Tag Name: Superscript
Explanation:
This element renders the enclosed text in superscript (a bit higher than regular text).
This element is also useful for mathematical formulas.
Example: Here's Einstein's most famous equation:
E = MC <SUP> 2 </SUP>
Another good use of the <SUP> TM </SUP> today
Tag: <VAR> ... </VAR>
Tag Name: Variable text
Explanation:
This text-level element marks up the variables used in computer programs, or the parts of a
computer command chosen by the user.
The text is usually rendered as monospaced, and like the keyboard element, multiple spaces
are collapsed.
e.g.: <P> The formula for the <VAR> distance travelled </VAR> (in
miles) is <VAR> Speed </VAR> (in miles per hour) multiplied by <VAR>
time </VAR> (in hours). </P>.
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Displaying Wallpaper in the Background
The background of your page can be either an image or a specific colour. To set an image as the
background of your page, use the BACKGROUND attribute and place the name of your image file
within quotes:
<BODY BACKGROUND="image.gif">
Like tags, attribute names can appear in upper or lowercase. For the filename, be sure to use the
same capitalization that is used in the actual filename. When a browser displays the page, the
image in the file that you specify is tiled to fill the background of the Web page, that is, it is
repeated across and down the page.
Choosing a Background Colour
Instead of using wallpaper, you can specify a solid background colour for your Web page. Use
the BGCOLOR attribute in the <BODY>tag. For the colour, you can enter either a hexadecimal
value that represents the colour, or one of 16 standard colour names. The colour names are the
following: aqua, black, blue, fuchsia, gray, green, lime, maroon, navy, olive, purple, red, silver, teal,
white, and yellow. To indicate a standard colour, use this tag:
<BODY BGCOLOR="BLUE">
Using a hexadecimal value is safer, if you want your colours to be read by a wide variety of
browsers. The hexadecimal value is six characters that represent the amount of red, green, and
blue in the colour. The first two characters indicate the amount of red, the next two characters the
amount of green, and the final two characters the amount of blue. For example, this code specifies
light aqua:
<BODY BGCOLOR="#99FFFF">
Student Activity 4
1. How will you insert an image the named elephant.jpg at the very top of a web page ?
2. Name various types of alignments available for images.
3. How will you place a border around an Image ?
4. What can you do with text-level elements ?
5. Describe the function of following tags :
(a) <CITE> (b) <BLOCKQUOTE>
(c) <CODE> (d) <DEL>
(e) <INS> (f) <DEN>
(g) <EM> (h) <KBD>
(i) <Q> (j) <STRONG>
(k) <SUB> (l) <SUP>
6. What is the difference between BACKGROUND and BGCOLOR attributes of <BODY>
tag?
2.10 INTRODUCTION TO FORMS
Forms are the only method of two-way communication between Web pages and Web sites.
Getting feedback is where HTML forms come into play. HTML supports a rich variety of input
capabilities to let you solicit feedback.
Most new browsers Netscape Navigator or Communicator 4.0 (and higher) and Microsoft
Internet Explorer (Windows 95 version 3.0.3 and higher), plus NCSA Mosaicand its variants
already include HTML 4.0 level forms support, but other browsers do not.
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Determining Form Content
The first step in developing a form is determining which information to include and how to
present it, that is, how to break it down into manageable pieces. You then need to ensure that
visitors can easily provide the information you want from them, which means that your form
needs to be both functional and visually appealing.
Information Issues
When deciding which information to include and how to break it down, consider your purposes
for creating the form. Begin by answering the following questions:
What information do I want? Customer contact information?
Why will visitors access the form? To order something on-line? To request information?
What information can visitors readily provide? Contact information? Previous purchases?
How much time will visitors be willing to spend filling out the form?
After determining what information you want and what information your visitors can provide,
break the information into the smallest chunks possible.
Usability Issues
Usability refers to how easily your visitors can answer your questions. Some usability guidelines
to consider when you are creating forms are as follows:
Group Similar Categories
When you group similar categories, the form appears less daunting, and visitors are more likely
to fill it out and submit it.
Make the Form Easy
Whenever possible, provide a list from which visitors can choose one or more items. Lists
are easy to use, and they result in easy-to-process information.
Ask visitors to fill in only a small amount of text. This takes minimal time, and it provides
you with data that is fairly easy to process.
NOTE Many visitors are likely to ignore a request that requires them to enter lots of text.
Provide Incentives
Provide visitors with incentives to fill out the form and submit it. Studies show that a penny
or a stamp included in mailed surveys often significantly improves the response rate.
Consider offering a chance in a drawing for a free product, an e-mailed list of tips and tricks,
or a discount on services.
Design Issues
A well designed form, helps and encourages visitors to give you the information you want. A
good form is visually appealing, graphically helpful, and consistent with the remainder of the site.
Here are some guidelines:
Use headings to announce each new group of information. This helps visitors move easily
through the form.
Be sure to visually separate groups. This makes the forms easier to use because sections
become shorter and easier to read through.
Use text emphases to draw the audience to important information.
Specify how visitors are to move through the form. Do not make your visitors scroll
horizontally to access information. Consider making a narrow, longer form rather than a
wider, shorter form to accomodate those who have lower monitor resolution.
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Use arrows to direct visitors through the page. This can help visitors move through the
page in a specified order.
Be sure that it is clear which check boxes and fields go with the associated descriptive
information. Use line breaks and spacing to clearly differentiate.
Specify which fields are optional.
Use a background image. Be sure, that the image does not outweigh the content and that
the text adequately contrasts with the image.
Make all the text entry fields the same width and put them on the left if you have a vertical
column of name and address information; this way all the text will align vertically and look
much better.
Creating Forms
Forms have two basic parts:
The part you can see (that a visitor fills out).
The part you can not see (that specifies how the server should process the information).
When adding forms support to a Web page, you must include special tags to solicit input from
users. You also include tags to gather input and ship it to your Web server. Here is how thisworks:
On a particular Web page, you include tags to set up a form and solicit input from users.
This essentially amounts to filling out the form that you supply.
After users fill out your form, they can then direct their input to the program running on the
Web server that delivered the form.
The information collected from a form can be:
i. Written to a file.
ii. Submitted to a database, such as Informix or Oracle.
iii. E-mailed to someone in particular.
Setting the <Form>Environment
The two key attributes within the <FORM>tag are METHOD and ACTION. Together, these
attributes control how your browser sends information to the web server and which input-
handling program receives the form's contents.
ACTION ="..." Indicates the program on the HTTP server that will process the output
from the form.
METHOD ="..." Tells the browser how to send the data to the server, with either the
POST method or the GET method.
e.g.: <FORM METHOD ="POST" ACTION ="http://www.xmission.com/cgi-bin/
cgiemail/~ejray/asr/ejray-asr-mail.text">
In this case, the http://www.xmission.com/cgi-bin/cgiemail part of the ACTION = line points to
the program itself, and the following part (/~ejray/asr/ejray-asr-mail.txt) is the server-relative path
to the file.
Understanding Widgets
Forms consist of several types of widgets (they are also called controls), which are fields you can
use to collect data:
Submit and Reset buttons send the form information to the server for processing and return
the form to its original settings.
Text fields are areas for brief text input. Use these for several word responses, such as
names, search terms, or addresses.
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HTML Select lists are lists from which visitors can choose one or more items. Use them to present
a long but finite list of choices.
Checkboxes allow visitors to select none, one, or several items from a list. Use them to elicit
multiple answers.
Radio buttons give visitors an opportunity to choose only one item.
Textareas are areas for lengthy text input, as in open-ended comments.
NOTE In general, radio buttons, checkboxes, and select lists are all better choices for
accepting input than textareas.
Submit and Reset Buttons
The first step in creating a form is to insert the <FORM>tags and add Submit and Reset buttons.
Submit and Reset buttons allow visitors to submit information and clear selections.
Basic Form Tags
Tag/Attribute Use
<FORM> Marks a form within an HTML document.
<INPUT TYPE ="SUBMIT" Provides a submit button for a form. The VALUE ="...">
Value =attribute produces text on the button.
<INPUT TYPE ="IMAGE" Provides a graphical submit button. The attribute indicates
the image source file, and the BORDER =
Name ="POINT" SRC ="..." attribute turns off the image border.
SRC =BORDER =0>
<INPUT TYPE ="RESET" Provides a reset button for a form. The Value =attribute
VALUE ="...">produces text on the button.
Traditionally, the Submit and Reset buttons go at the bottom of the form immediately above the
closing </FORM>tag. The following example creates a Submit and Reset button by using the
<INPUT>tag, the TYPE =attribute, and the VALUE =attribute.
<HR WIDTH = 80% SIZE = 8 NOSHADE>
<FORM>
<INPUT TYPE = "SUBMIT" VALUE = " Submit">
<INPUT TYPE = "RESET" VALUE = "Start Over">
</FORM>
If you want to use an image for your submit button, substitute the following code for the submit
button.
<INPUT TYPE = "IMAGE" NAME = "POINT" SRC = "Submitbutton.gif"
BORDER = 0>
The TYPE ="IMAGE" attribute specifies that an image will be used to click on and submit the
form. The NAME ="POINT" attribute specifies that the x, y coordinates where the mouse is
located will be returned to the server when the image is clicked. Finally, the SRC =and BORDER =
attributes work just as they do with regular images they specify the URL of the image and turn
off the border.
Text Fields
A text field is a blank area within a form and is the place for visitor supplied information.
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Input Field Tag and Attributes
Tag/Attribute Use
<INPUT> Sets an area in a form for visitor input.
TYPE ="..." Sets the type of input field. Possible values are TEXT,
PASSWORD, CHECKBOX, RADIO, FILE, HIDDEN,
IMAGE, SUBMIT, AND RESET.
NAME ="..." Processes form results.
VALUE ="..." Use this attribute with radio buttons and checkboxes
because it does not accept any other input. You can also
use this attribute with text fields to provide initial input.
SIZE ="n" Sets the visible size for a field. Use this attribute with text
input fields.
MAXLENGTH ="n" Sets the longest set of characters that can be submitted.
An example to add a text field to an existing form:
<FORM>
<INPUT TYPE = "TEXT" NAME = "firstname" SIZE = "30" MAXLENGTH =
"30">
</FORM>
Guidelines for Including Multiple Text Fields
i. As a rule, forms are much more attractive if the fields are aligned.
ii. Here are some guidelines to follow when you include multiple text fields in your form:
Place the fields at the left margin of your page, followed by the descriptive text.
Set the text fields to the same size, when appropriate.
As you add descriptive labels, remember to also add line breaks (<BR>or <P>) in appropriate
places.
Optionally, add a VALUE =attribute to the text input tag to "seed" the field with a value or
to provide an example of the content you want.
Radio Buttons
A radio button is a type of input field that allows visitors to choose one option from a list. Each
choice is mutually exclusive choosing one excludes the remainder. For example:
<P>
Please choose the most appropriate statement.
<BR> <INPUT TYPE = "RADIO" NAME = "buying" VALUE = "regular">
I regularly purchase items on-line.
<BR> <INPUT TYPE = "RADIO" NAME = buying" VALUE = "sometimes">
I have on occasion purchased items on-line.
<BR> <INPUT TYPE = "RADIO" NAME = "buying" VALUE = "might" CHECKED>
I have not purchased anything on-line, but I would consider it.
<BR> <INPUT TYPE = "RADIO" NAME = buying" VALUE = "will not">
I prefer to shop in real stores.
Use the same NAME =attribute for all radio buttons in a set. Browsers use the name attribute on
radio buttons to specify which buttons are related and therefore which ones are set and unset as
a group. Add the attribute CHECKED to one of the items to indicate the default selection.
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Each checkbox works independently from others; visitors can select or deselect any combination
of checkboxes. Using checkboxes is appropriate for open questions or questions that have more
than one " right" answer. In most browsers, checkboxes appear as little squares that contain a
checkmark when selected. For example:
<P> I'm interested in (choose all that apply):
<BR> <INPUT TYPE = "CHECKBOX" NAME = "hiking"
VALUE = "hiking" > Hiking
<BR> <INPUT TYPE = "CHECKBOX" NAME = "mbiking"
VALUE ="mbiking"> Mountain Biking
<BR> <INPUT TYPE = "CHECKBOX" NAME = "camping"
VALUE="camping" > Camping
<BR> <INPUT TYPE = "CHECKBOX" NAME = "rock"
VALUE = "rock" > Rock Climbing
<BR> <INPUT TYPE = "CHECKBOX" NAME = "4wd" VALUE = "4wd" > Off-Road
4wd
<BR> <INPUT TYPE = "CHECKBOX" NAME = "ccskiing" VALUE =
"ccskiing">Cross
Country Skiing
Password Fields
Password fields are similar to text fields, except the contents of the field are not visible on the
screen. Password fields are appropriate whenever the content of the field might be confidential
as in passwords. Example to establish a password field:
<INPUT TYPE = "password" NAME = "newpass" SIZE = "10" MAXLENGTH =
"10">
When viewed in the browser, each typed character appears as an asterisk (*).
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Hidden Fields
Hidden fields are not visible to the visitors. They are, recognized by the program receiving the
input from the form and can provide useful additional information. Suppose a program cgiemail is
used to process the form; it accepts a hidden field to reference a page shown after the customer
completes and submits the form. The cgiemail program requires a hidden field such as the following:
<INPUT TYPE = "hidden" NAME = "success"
VALUE = "http://www.xmission.com/~ejray/asr/asrmaildone.html">
The TYPE ="HIDDEN" attribute keeps it from being shown, and the NAME =and VALUE =
attributes provide the information that cgiemail expects. Hidden fields can go anywhere in the
form, but it is usually best to place them at the top, immediately after the opening <FORM>tag.
File Fields
HTML also supports a special input field, a file field, to allow visitors to upload files. If you want
visitors to submit information say, a picture, a scanned document, a spreadsheet, or a word
processed documentthey can use this field to simply upload the file without using FTP or e-
mailing the file. After verifying that the server on which you will process your forms supports file
uploads, you can implement this feature as follows:
Please post this photo I took in your gallery !
<INPUT TYPE = "FILE" NAME = "filenew" SIZE = "20" ACCEPT = "image/
*">
The values for the ACCEPT =attribute are MIME types. If you accept only a specific type, such
as image/gif, you can specify that. If you take any image file, but no other files, you can use
image/*. Finally, you can also provide a list of possible types you accept, separated by commas:
<INPUT TYPE = "FILE" NAME = "filenew" SIZE = "20" ACCEPT = "image/
gif, image/jpeg">
This code results in a text area plus a button that allows visitors to browse to a file, when rendered
in most browsers.
Text Areas
Textareas are places within a form for extensive text input. One of the primary uses of textareas is
to solicit comments or free form feedback from visitors.
Textarea Tags and Attributes
Tag/Attribute Use
<TEXTAREA> Sets an area in a form for lengthy visitor input. Initial
content for the textarea goes between the opening and
closing tags.
NAME ="..." Establishes a label for an input field. The Name =attribute
is used for form processing.
ROWS ="n" Sets the number of rows for the visible field.
COLS ="n" Sets the number of columns for the visible field.
Example:
<TEXTAREA NAME = "comments" COLS = "40" ROWS = "5"> Please type any
additional comments here.
</TEXTAREA>
Select Fields
Select fields are some of the most flexible fields used in developing forms because you can let
visitors select single and multiple responses. Select fields, can either provide a long (visible) list
of items or a highly compact listing.
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Tag/Attribute Use
<SELECT> Sets an area in a form for a select field that can look like a
drop-down list or a larger select field.
Name ="..." Establishes a label for an input field. The NAME =
attribute is used for form processing.
SIZE ="n" Sets the visible size for the select field. The default (1)
creates a drop-down list. You can change the default if
you want more options to be visible.
MULTIPLE Sets the select field to accept more than one selection.
<OPTION> Marks the items included in the select field. You will have
an <OPTION> tag for each item you include. The closing
tag is optional.
VALUE ="..." Provides the content associated with the NAME =
attribute.
SELECTED Lets you specify a default selection, which will appear
when the form in loaded or reset.
For example:
I learned about this site from: <BR>
<SELECT NAME = "referral" MULTIPLE>
<OPTION VALUE = "print" SELECTED> Print Ads
<OPTION VALUE = "visit"> In-Store Visit
<OPTION VALUE = "rec"> Friend's Recommendation
<OPTION VALUE = "internet"> Sources on the Internet
<OPTION VALUE = "other"> Other
</SELECT>
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Student Activity 5
1. What are forms ?
2. Describe various points to be considered to develop a form.
3. How will you create a form ?
4. Describe <FORM>tag and its various attributes.
5. Describe <INPUT>tag and its various attributes.
6. How can you include multiple text fields in a form?
2.11 INTERACTIVE LAYOUT WITH FRAMES
A Frame is a rectangular region inside the browser window which can displays a web page. A web
page can contain more than one frame. Thus, using frames one can display more than one web
page in a single web page in the browser.
IN the early days of HTML technology only a single page could be seen at a time in a browser.
Frames have been added to the HTML to overcome this limitation by dividing the browser
window into number of HTML documents.
Frames allow the user to arrange text and graphics into rows and columns of text and graphics just
like tables. Unlike a table cell, however, any frame can contain links that change the contents of
other frames or itself. One frame could display an unchanging table of content while the other
frames change based on which link are made. This feature provides tremendous flexibility in
achieving dynamic character inside a web page.
Frames allow users to change the contents of on a portion of a web page being displayed while
keeping other areas unchanged. The dynamic behavior offered by frames can be exploited to
enhance a web page in variety of ways.
Frame capable of displaying a web page each can be grouped into what is called a frameset. A web
page that displays framesets contains nothing but frameset tags and is aptly called a frameset
document. Frames are introduced in a web using frame and frameset tags discussed below.
Creating a frameset document
Before you create a frameset document create the content of each frame as an ordinary HTML
pages. Having done that a frameset document is created. A frameset document actually has no
content. It only tells the browser which page to load, and how to arrange them in the browser
window among different frames. For example, suppose we have the following three HTML pages:
One.html
<html>
<head>
<title>Vehicles</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>This is the first page to be displayed.</p>
<table border=1" cellpadding=0" cellspacing=0" style=border-
collapse: collapse bordercolor=#111111" width=79%
id=AutoNumber1">
<tr>
<td width=50%><b>Items </b> </td>
<td width=50%><b>Rate (Rs. Per Piece)</b></td>
</tr>
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<tr>
<td width=50%>Car</td>
<td width=50%>2,00,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=50%>Truck</td>
<td width=50%>22,00,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=50%>Bus</td>
<td width=50%>12,00,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=50%>Jeep</td>
<td width=50%>4,00,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=50%>Utility Van</td>
<td width=50%>6,00,000</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</body>
</html>
The page when opened in the browser looks like a shown below:
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Two.html
<html>
<head>
<title>Second Page</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>This is the second page to be displayed.</p>
<table border=1" cellpadding=0" cellspacing=0" style=border-
collapse: collapse bordercolor=#111111" width=79%
id=AutoNumber1">
<tr>
<td width=50%><b>Items </b> </td>
<td width=50%><b>Rate (Rs. Per Piece)</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=50%>Pen</td>
<td width=50%>20</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=50%>Pencil</td>
<td width=50%>10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=50%>Sign pen</td>
<td width=50%>32</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=50%>Marker pen</td>
<td width=50%>40</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=50%>Paint brush</td>
<td width=50%>60</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</body>
</html>
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Three.html
<html>
<head>
<title>Third Page</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>This is the third page to be displayed.</p>
<table border=1" cellpadding=0" cellspacing=0" style=border-
collapse: collapse bordercolor=#111111" width=79%
id=AutoNumber1">
<tr>
<td width=50%><b>Items </b> </td>
<td width=50%><b>Rate (Rs. Per Piece)</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=50%>Refrigerator</td>
<td width=50%>20,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=50%>Washing machine</td>
<td width=50%>10,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=50%>Air conditioner</td>
<td width=50%>32,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=50%>Inverter</td>
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<td width=50%>14,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=50%>Computer</td>
<td width=50%>34,000</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</body>
</html>
The page when opened in the browser looks like a shown below:
Having done this, create a frameset document to arrange these pages into a single web page as
shown below:
Main.html
<html>
<head>
<title>New Page 1</title>
</head>
<frameset cols=*,*,*>
<frame name=left src=one.htm>
<frame name=center src=two.htm>
<frame name=right src=three.htm>
<noframes>
<body>
<p>This page uses frames, but your browser doesnt support them.</
p>
</body>
</noframes>
</frameset>
</html>
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HTML When loaded into the web browser this looks like the following:
The <frameset>tag is what defines a group of frames. A frameset may have the following attributes:
Rows: This attribute indicates that the frames included into this frameset should be arranged in
rows.
Cols: This attribute indicates that the frames included into this frameset should be arranged in
columns.
The user should use Cols attribute instead of Rows if he desires frames to be side-by-side. One
must specify the sizes of the Rows on Cols either as precise pixel values or as percentages of the
total size of the browser window. The user can also use an astrick (*) to indicate that a frame
should fill whatever space is available in the window. If more than one frame has as asterisk (*)
value the space will be allotted equally between them.
Or example, <Frameset Rows =70, 70>means to break the window vertically into two frames as
shown below:
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It is advised to safest approach to use % rather than exact pixel values to indicate the size of the
rows and columns. For example to mate a left frame 35% of the width of browser window with a
right frame taking up the remaining 65%. One should write as
< frameset cols = 35%, 65% >
The <Frame>tag
Within the <Frameset>and </frameset>tags the user should have a <frame>tag indicating which
HTML document to display in each frame. One need not to specify a closing </ Frame>
corresponding to each of the frame>tags.
Include a SRC attribute in each <FRAME>tag with the address of the web page to load in that
frame. The user can insert the address of an image file instead of a web page if the user just want
a frame with a single image in it.
Link between frames and windows
When we give a frame a name with <FRAME NAME>attribute. We can made any link on the change
the contents of that frame using the <A target>attribute. Consider the following modified example.
List.html
<html>
<head>
<title>Rates</title>
</head>
<body>
<p><a target=bottom href=one.htm>Vehicle</a><br>
<a target=bottom href=two.htm>Stationery</a><br>
<a target=bottom href=three.htm>Household equipment</a><br>
&nbsp;</p>
</body>
</html>
Index.html
<html>
<head>
<title>New Page 1</title>
</head>
<frameset rows=23%,*>
<frame name=top src=list.htm>
<frame name=bottom src=one.htm>
</frameset>
</html>
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Now click at the Stationary link you will see the following:
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Similarly, by clicking at Household equipment link you should see the following:
This way you can introduce a number of interactive frames in a single web page.
2.12 LINKING WEB PAGES AND PUBLISHING
Internal links behave identical to external links with one exception you can use relative URLs for
internal links. A relative URL simply drops the common part from the URL and lets the browsers
automatically figure out the part that is missing. For example, instead of specifying <A HREF =
"http://www.rupert.com/history.htm">Rupert's History Page </A>just specify the part that's
different from the current page's URL:
<A HREF = "history.htm"> Rupert's History Page </A>
Tag: <BASE> ... </BASE>
Tag Name: Relative Addressing base
Explanation:
It occurs within <HEAD>... </HEAD>and establishes the URL basis for subsequent URL
references in <LINK>or anchor statements in the document body.
Attributes:
HREF ="URL"
States the absolute or relative URL for the current document.
TARGET ="window"
There are four pre-defined names that can be targeted by an anchor. They all start with an
underscore (_).
_blank For example:
<A HREF = "document.htm" Target = "_blank"> My document </A>
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document.htm file.
_parent For example:
<A HREF ="document.htm" Target ="_parent">My document </A>
Clicking on My document would cause the document.htm file to appear in the parent frameset.
_self For example, you have declared
<BASE TARGET ="worry">to have links target a frame named "worry" by default. You
can use:
<A HREF ="document.htm "Target =" _self ">My document </A>
When someone clicks on My document, the file document.htm will replace the current frame
instead of the worry frame.
_top For example:
<A HREF = "document.htm" Target = "_top"> My document </A>
Clicking on My document would cancel all of the frames and replace the entire frameset with the
document.htm file.
Tag: <Link> ... </Link>
Tag Name: Link
Explanation:
The link element indicates relationships between your documents and other documents or
URLS.
Attributes:
HREF ="URL"
The address of the current link destination, accessible through normal web linkage
mechanisms.
MEDIA =SCREENPRINTPROJECTIONBRAILLESPEECHALL
Identifies the ideal environment for the web page to be conveyed in. The default is ALL.
REL ="text"
It indicates a normal relationship to the document specified in the URL.
e.g.: <LINK REL = "INDEX" HREF = "index.htm">
This tag would let browsers know where they can find the main index for your Web site.
REV ="text"
It indicates a reverse relationship. The referenced document has the indicated relationship
to the current document.
e.g.: <LINK REV ="Index" HREF ="history.htm">
This tag would let browsers know that there is a two-way relationship between history.htm
and index.htm that index. htm is the index of history.htm, and simultaneously, history.htm is
indexed by index.htm.
Target ="window"
Specifies loading the link into the targeted window.
Type ="text"
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Specifies the Internet media type of linked resource. For example, the type for CSSI
sheets is "TEXT/CSS".
Publishing Documents
Publishing means putting HTML documents on a Web server and telling people where to look for
them. The exact process you will use for publishing documents depends on your situation. Some
large organizations have well-defined publishing procedures; in such cases, you might simply fill
out HTML forms and save your files in a specified folder. If your organization does not have
procedures or if you are publishing on the Internet, you will need to upload your files, i.e., to
copy files from your computer to a server.
Deciding where to store your pages is one of the final steps in creating your Web site plan. To
make your site available to everyone on the Web, you need to publish the site on a Web server.
You can either set up your own server or post your files to some one else's Web server.
Maintaining Your Own Server
Setting your own Web server is a very expensive option for publishing your site. It requires the
following items:
A computer capable of handling Web traffic, that is up and running 24 hours a day.
Web server software.
A dedicated, high-speed phone line (such as an ISDN or T1 line).
An ISP that will set you up with a dedicated connection to the Internet.
Using Your ISP's Server
Most ISPs include a few megabytes of storage space free of charge with a dial-up account, and
most offer additional space at reasonable prices. For most people storing Web files on their ISP's
server is the most convenient and economical way to publish a site on the Web.
For each ISP, the file transfer procedures are different. Your ISP can give you the instructions that
you need to transfer files to its Web server. As soon as the files are transferred, your site is
available for viewing on the Web.
Using a Web Hosting Service
A Web hosting service is a company that rents space on their Web servers. Web hosting companies
usually offer multiple Web servers, a fast connection to the Internet, domain hosting, frequent
backups, unlimited access by the Web server (you) to update your pages, and use of standard
CGI scripts, such as scripts that display counters that show how many visitors your page has
had. Charges may be fixed, or they may depend on how much space your Web pages occupy and
how many visitors you have.
To find a Web hosting service, start at Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com) and choose Business
and Economy/companies / Internet Services / Web services / Hosting.
Publicizing Your Site
After your site is published on the Web and you have joined the global on-line community, how
are you going to publicize the site? The first step is to register your site with some search engines,
so that people doing on-line searches can find the site. Apart from advertizing your site by the
word of mouth, here are some other ways to let other people know that your site is on the web.
Use the method that is appropriate for your site:
Get the URL of your site printed on your business cards, stationary, and in yellow pages.
Add your URL to your signature block in e-mail and newsgroup messages.
Include the URL in your return address whenever you send greeting cards or holiday
cards.
Have some bumper stickers printed showing your group or club's URL.
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Post the URL on all school bulletin boards.
Testing Published Documents
Earlier in this chapter, we discussed testing documents on your local computer. Now
it's time to test them in the real world, looking for the same issues addressed previously, as well as
making sure that all the links work and that all the documents are transferred properly to the
server. Additionally, at this stage, your goal is not only to look for layout, formatting, and proof
reading errors, but also to get an accurate idea of what visitors will see when they access your
pages. In particular, find out how fast pages load, how pages appear at various screen sizes and
colour depths, and how different browsers display page elements.
Maintaining Documents
Maintaining HTML documents is the process of updating and revising existing pages, adding
new pages, and deleting outdated pages. Regularly maintaining HTML documents is essential if
you want visitors to keep returning to your site. Also regular maintenance helps make long-term
maintenance less cumbersome. HTML documents contain two types of information:
Static
Dynamic
Static information remains constant. The company logo, most of the menus, and even product
descriptions are examples of static information.
Dynamic information, on the other hand, must be changed or updated regularly. Prices, schedules,
specific or timely information, and product lists are examples of dynamic information.
Publishing Tools
Web pages are coded using Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) tags to specify the way text
and graphics are displayed. When you create your own Web pages, you can either type the tags
manually in a text editor or use a Web page editor to do the coding for you. These editors are also
called Web publishing tools. There are number of Web page editors available for making Web
pages. Web page editors are available as stand-alone applications or bundled into the Internet
software package. Some popular editors are Netscape Composer (which is part of the Netscape
Communicator suite), FrontPage and FrontPage Express (from Microsoft), PageMill (from Adobe),
and HotDog Professional (from Sausage Software). All run under Windows 98 and some (including
Netscape Composer) are also available for the Mac. This section describes FrontPage, in some
detail, as an example of how a Web page editor works. The other editors work in a similar way.
Student Activity 6
1. Which attributes of <A>facilitates external linking ?
2. Which attributes of <A>facilitate internal linking ?
3. What do you mean by publishing documents ?
4. Give various options for publishing your website.
5. How will you test a published document ?
6. Why is it necessary to maintain HTML documents ?
8. What are publishing tools ? Give examples.
2.13 SUMMARY
On world wide web, the documents are written in a special language called HTML (Hyper
Text Markup Language).
An HTML document must have <HTML>, <HEAD>and <BODY>tags, where <HEAD>and </
HEAD>specify the header part and <BODY>and <//BODY>specify by the document body.
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Special characters <, >and & are printed using &lt ; &gt; and &amp; escape sequences.
In HTML, lists can be of three types : unnumbered, numbered, and definition.
The unnumbered lists are defined with <UL>tag, numbered lists are defined with <OL>
tag. The items in these lists are defined with <LI>tag.
The definition lists are defined with <DL>tag, definition terms are defined with <DT>tag
and definition descriptions are defined with <DD>tag.
Images can be inserted in text using <IMG>tag. Its source is specified with attribute,
alternate text with alt attribute, alignment with align attribute and size with height and
width attributes.
Hyperlinks can be created using <A>tag. Linking to another document is called external
linking. Linking within the same document is called internal linking.
Various tags may be combined in HTML to have the desired effect.
To make your site available to everyone on the web, you need to publish the site on a Web
Server. This can be done by maintaining your own web server or posting your files to some
one elses web server.
2.14 KEYWORDS
Tag : A coded HTML command.
Attribute : Special word, carrying special meaning, used inside an HTML tag.
Block-level Elements : Used to defined groups of text for a specific role.
Text-level Elements : Used for markup bits of text.
List : Provides methods to layout item or element sequences in document content.
Ordered Lists : Indented lists having numbers or letters in front of every list item.
Unordered Lists : Indented lists having a bullet symbol in front of every list item.
Definition Lists : Lists showing definition terms and definition descriptions.
External Linking : Linking to another web page.
Internal Linking : Linking to a section inside same web page.
Publishing : Putting HTML documents on a web server and telling people where to look for them.
Web hosting Service : A company that rents space on their web servers.
2.15 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Fill in the blanks :
a. HTML is acronym for ............................
b. To define the basic font size, ............................ tag is used.
c. To specify the background image for the document, background attribute is used
with ............................ tag.
d. Two tags break the line flow. These are ............................ and ............................
e. In <OL>and <UL>, the 8 type of bullet or number is defined by ............................
f. For linking to another web page, its URL is specified with ............................ attribute of
<A>tag.
2. Can you assign justified alignment to a paragraph in HTML ?
3. List and explain different attributes of body tag.
4. What is the difference between basefont and font tag ?
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HTML 5. How would you indent a single word and put a square bullet in front of it ?
6. You plan to publish a CD-ROM disk containing HTML pages. How do you create a link
from a page in the \guide folder to the \guide\mains\kolkata.htm page ?
Answers to Review Questions
1. (a) Hypertext Markup Language (b) BSEFONT (c) <BODY>
(d) <HR>, <BR> (e) type attribute (f) href
2.16 FURTHER READINGS
Ed Titled ; Foundations of Worldwide Web Programming with HTML and CGI ; 1995, IDG Books
Worldwide.
Herbert Schildt ; Java: The Complete Reference, J2SE TM ; 2005, Mc Graw-Hill Professional.
J im Farley ; OReilly, Java distributed Computing.
Robert W. Bill ; Jython for Java Programmers ; 2001, Sam Publishing.
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UNIT
3
THE GENESIS OF JAVA
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Give a brief history of J ava
Define applets and applications
Define bytecodes
Understand various java buzzwords
Define J ava script
Understand whats new in J DK 1.2
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
3.1 Introduction and Creation
3.2 Applets and Applications
3.3 Security
3.4 Bytecodes
3.5 J ava Buzzwords
3.6 Simple
3.7 Multi-threaded
3.8 Architecture Neutral
3.9 J ava and J avaScript
3.10 New in J DK 1.2
3.11 Summary
3.12 Keywords
3.13 Review Questions
3.14 Further Readings
3.1 INTRODUCTION
This unit talks about the evolution of J ava and its various features that have made it a popular
programming language. Architecture Neutrality is one of the most importance characteristics of
J ava. Several other features of J ava that have given it the status of an Internet language have also
been discussed in this unit.
When the chronicle of computer language will be written, the following will be said: B led to C, C
evolved into C++and C++set the stage for J ava. J ava is the first and foremost programming
language. Creation of J ava was driven by two elements in nearly equal measures viz.:
i. To adapt to the changing environments and uses.
ii. To implement refinements and improvements in the art of programming.
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The Genesis of J ava
A Brief History of Java
In 1990, Sun Microsystems began a project called Green to develop software for consumer
electronics. Gosling began writing software in C++for embedding into such items as toasters,
VCR's and Personal Digital Assistants (PDA's). The embedded software makes many appliances
more intelligent. Gosling's solution to the problem of C++was a new language called Oak. Finally
in 1995, Oak was renamed J ava. Since then, J ava has been rising in popularity.
3.2 APPLETS AND APPLICATIONS
An applet is a J ava program that appears embedded in a web document, just as graphics are. The
J ava applet runs when a J ava enabled web browser, such as Netscape Navigator, loads it.
Application is a program that runs on your computer, under the operating system of that computer.
This means that an application created by J ava is more or less like one created in C or C++.
3.3 SECURITY
Security is probably the main problem facing Internet developers. Users are typically afraid of
two things : confidential information being compromised and their computer systems being
corrupted or destroyed by hackers. J ava's built-in security addresses both these concerns.
When you use a J ava compatible web browser, you can safely download J ava applets without
fear of virus infection.
3.4 BYTECODES
The key that allows J ava to solve both the security and portability problems just described above
is that the output of a J ava compiler is not an executable code, rather it is a bytecode. Bytecode
is a highly optimized set of instructions designed to be executed by the J ava run time system,
which is called J ava Virtual Machine (J VM). It is an interpreter for bytecodes.
Translating a J ava program into bytecode makes it much easier to run a program in a wide variety
of environments. Although the details of JVM will differ from platform to platform, all interpret the
same J ava bytecode.
When a program is interpreted, it generally runs substantially longer than it would run if compiled
to executable code.
Sun has just completed its J IT (J ust in Time) compiler for bytecodes which is included in J ava2
release. When the J IT compiler is part of the J VM, it compiles bytecodes executable code in real
time, on a piece by piece, demand basis.
3.5 JAVA BUZZWORDS
The fundamental forces that necessitated the extension of J ava were portability and security.
J ava is
Simple
Secure
Portable
Object Oriented
Robust
Multi-threaded
Architecture Neutral
Interpreted
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Distributed
Dynamic
Student Activity 1
1. Describe the history of J ava
2. What are applets?
3. What is an Application?
4. What are bytecodes?
5. Give some features of J ava.
3.6 SIMPLE
J ava was designed to be easy for the professional programmer. It is easy to learn and can be used
effectively. If you are an experienced C++programmer, moving to J ava will require very little
effort.
3.7 MULTI-THREADED
A single threaded application has one thread of execution running at all times and such programs
can do only one task a time.
A multi-threaded application can have several threads of execution running independently and
simultaneously. These threads may communicate and cooperate and will appear to be a single
program to the user.
3.8 ARCHITECTURE NEUTRAL
The central issue for J ava designers was that of code longevity and portability. One of the main
problems facing programmers is that no guarantee exists that if you write a program today, it will
run tomorrow even on the same machine. Operating system upgrades, processor upgrades and
changes in core system resources can all combine to make a program malfunction. It is basically
'write once; run anywhere, any time, forever'.
3.9 JAVA AND JAVASCRIPT
J avaScript is a separate programming language closely related to J ava. It can be coded directly in
an HTML document which makes the J avaScript source code part of the document itself. JavaScript
is less powerful than J ava but it gives the programmer a bit more control over the browser and it
is used primarily to create dialog boxes and animations on web pages.
J avaScript does have a limited ability to call J ava applet routines and alter J ava applet variables.
However, the core Java APD has no mechanism for calling JavaScript code or changing JavaScript
variables.
3.10 NEW IN JDK 1.2
J ava 1.2 adds even more enhancements, improvements or capabilities in J ava 1.1. Some other
completely new features that have been added are mentioned below:
Enhancements to Security, JavaBeans, Reflection and Performance
Numerous J ava packages have received enhancements in J ava 1.2. The security architecture
incorporates policy based access control to enhance permission management. J avaBeans add
drag and drop support while reflection includes the ability to bypass security, specially when
using object reflection.
Some performances have been improved, for instance, faster memory allocation, reduced memory
usage for loaded classes and J ust In Time compilers.
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Java Foundation Classes
The J ava Foundation Classes (J FC) encompass a broad range of enhancements. There is now
support for advanced technologies with an Accessibility API, a J ava 2-D API for enhanced
Graphics and Imaging and Swing for a new set of GUI components in addition to the AWT
components.
Collections
The Collections API makes working with groups of objects much easier. Prior to J ava 1.2 you
basically used the earlier Vector and Hashtable classes as well as the Enumeration interface. Here
you can work with things like balanced trees, circular linked lists and simplified array sortings.
Student Activity 2
1. What is a multi-threaded application?
2. How can you say that J ava is architecture neutral?
3. What is J ava Script?
4. List some of the added features of J DK 1.2.
3.11 SUMMARY
J ava is an Object oriented language developed by Sun Microsystems. It is a simple, secure,
portable, object-oriented, robust, multi-threaded, architecture neutral, interpreted, distributed
and dynamic language.
An applet is a J ava program that appears embedded in a web document, just as graphics are
and an application is a program that runs on your computer, under the operating system of
that computer.
J ava Script is a separate programming language closely related to J ava. It does have a
limited ability to call J ava applet routines and alter J ava applet variables.
J ava 1.2 adds even more enhancements, improvements or capabilities in J ava 1.1
3.12 KEYWORDS
Applet : A J ava program that appears embedded in a web document, just as graphics are.
Application : A program that runs on your computer, under the operating system of that computer.
Bytecode : A highly optimized set of instructions designed to be executed by the J ava run time
system.
Java Virtual Machine (JVM) : An Interpreter for bytecode.
Multi-threaded Application : An application with several threads of execution running
independently and simultaneously.
Java Script : A programming language closely related to J ava with a limited ability to call J ava
applet routines and alter J ava applet variables.
3.13 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Fill in the blanks :
(a) _______ was renamed as J ava.
(b) _______ appears embedded in a web document.
(c) J VM is an _______ for bytecode.
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(d) J ava is easy to _______and can be used _______.
(e) J ava Script can be coded directly in an _______ document.
2. State true or false :
(a) Applet appears embedded in a web document.
(b) Translating a J ava program into bytecode makes it much easier to run a program in a
wide variety of environments.
(c) Java Script have a limited ability to call Java applet routines and alter Java applications.
(d) J ava is neither secure nor portable programming language.
Answers to Review Questions
1. (a) Oak (b) applet (c) interpreter (d) learn, effectively (e) HTML
2. (a) true (b) true (c) true (d) false
3.14 FURTHER READINGS
E..Balaguruswami, Programming with Java, Tata McGraw Hill.
Herbert Schilelt, The Complete Reference Java 2 Tata McGraw Hill.
Herbert Schildt, Java: The Complete Reference, J2SE TM ; 2005, Mc Graw-Hill Professional.
UNIT
4
AN OVERVIEW OF JAVA
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe an object
Describe various features of object oriented programming
Understand a simple J ava program
Understand how to compile and run J ava Program
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
4.1 Introduction
4.2 What is an Object
4.3 Features of Object Oriented Programming
4.4 The First Simple Program
4.5 Compiling
4.6 Summary
4.7 Keywords
4.8 Review Questions
4.9 Further Readings
4.1 INTRODUCTION
As we start developing a software in the software systems model, the most important part in the
above model is maintenance. As you know, all programs consist of two elements, code and data,
i.e., some programs are written around 'what is happening' and others are written around 'who is
being affected'.
To manage increasing complexity, the second approach called object oriented programming was
conceived. This approach organizes a program around its data (that is, objects), and a set of well
defined interfaces to that data. An object oriented program can be characterized as data controlling
access to code. You will see that by switching the controlling entity to data, you can achieve
several organizational benefits.
After studying this chapter, the students should be able to understand the concepts of Object
Oriented Methodology Abstraction, encapsulation, Objects, Classes and Inheritance.
4.2 WHAT IS AN OBJECT
Objects are software bundles of data and related procedures. Software objects are often used to
model real world objects that you find in everyday life. As the name implies, objects are the key
concept in understanding object oriented technology. You can look around and see many examples
of real world objects your dog, your desk, your television set or your bicycle. These real world
objects share two characteristics they all have state and they all have behaviour. For example,
dogs have state (name, colour, breed, hunger) and behavior (barking and fetching). Bicycles have
state (current gear, current pedal etc.). The following illustration is a simple visual representation
of a software object.
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Figure 4.1 An Object
4.3 FEATURES OF OBJECT ORIENTED PROGRAMMING
Encapsulation
Everything that the software objects know (state) and can do (behavior) is expressed by the
variables and methods within that object. A software object that models your real world bicycle
will have variables that will include the bicycle's current state such as, its speed is 25 Kmph.
These variables and methods are formally known as instance variables and instance methods to
distinguish them from class variables and class methods.
Figure 4.2 Your Bicycle
The software bicycle will also have methods to brake, change the pedal cadence and change gear.
As you can see from figure 4.1 and 4.2, the object's variables make up the centre or nucleus of the
object and the methods surround and hide the object's nucleus from other objects in the program.
Packaging an object's variables within the protective custody of its method is called Encapsulation.
Typically, encapsulation is used to hide important details from other objects. When you want to
change gears on your bicycle, you don't need to know how the gear mechanism works, you just
need to know which lever to move.
Thus, the implementation can change at any time without changing other parts of the program.
Inheritance
Classes inherit state and behaviour from their superclass. A class is a blueprint or prototype that
defines the variables and methods common to all objects of a certain kind.
Object oriented systems allow classes to be defined in terms of other classes. For example,
mountain bikes, racing bikes and tandems are all subclasses of the bicycle class. Similarly, the
bicycle class is the superclass of mountain bikes, racing bikes and tandems.
Variables or state
Methods
Or
behavior
Variables or state
Methods
Or
behavior
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Figure 4.3 Hierarchy of Classes
Each subclass inherits state (in the form of variable declarations ) from the superclass. Mountain
bikes, racing bikes and tandems share some states : cadence, speed, and the like. Also each
subclass inherits methods from the superclass.
Benefits of Inheritance
Abstraction
In J ava, classes are used to categorize data in order to model real life systems. Abstraction is this
process of categorizing data. Consider that a person is looking for a frame in an optician's shop.
To be able to choose a frame from amongst the various types of frames available, he has to first
identify the attributes he is looking for. Once he has identified the attributes, he has with him a
category or class of frames. Similarly, to model any real life objects in OOPS, an 'object' has to be
instantiated from a specific 'class'. This basic process of forming a class is known as 'Abstraction'.
Figure 4.4 Abstraction
Mountain
Bikes
Racing
Bikes
Tandem
Bikes
Mountain
Bikes
Racing
Bikes
Tandem
Bikes
Frames of
golden color
with
photochromatic
lenses
A
frame of
golden color
with
photochromatic
lenses
Frames
Abstraction
A class
Indentation
An object
Frames of
golden color
with
photochromatic
lenses
A
frame of
golden color
with
photochromatic
lenses
Frames
Abstraction
A class
Indentation
An object
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Student Activity 1
1. What is an Object?
2. What are the various features of object oriented programming?
3. Define Encapsulation.
4. Define Inheritance.
5 What are the benefits of Inheritance?
4.4 THE FIRST SIMPLE PROGRAM
Basic Java Application
1. // This is my first program
2. public class Myfirstprogram
3. {
4. public static void main (String args[ ])
5. {
6. System.out.println ("This is my first program");
7. }
8. }
We will explain this program step by step.
The first line is a single line comment which will be ignored by the compiler. Comments are used
in programs so that you can understand what your program does. For multiple line comments use
/* */.
In J ava, everything should be in a class which is declared by the keyword class. Public is a
keyword which makes this class available and accessible to any one.
Myfirstprogram is the name of the program and should also be the name of the J ava file. The case
of the file name should be the same i.e., Myfirstprogram.java.
Static keyword is used which signifies that this method will be called without creating an object
of Myfirstprogram and this method will be invoked first and only once by J VM. Void is the return
type of the main method, which means that this method is not going to return any value. The
parameter that the main method takes is an array of string which is used to show command line
parameters.
System.out.println method is used to print anything on the console.
Pair of { } braces define the scope of any method or class.
In the J ava programming language, a statement is a single code terminated with the semicolon (;).
4.5 COMPILING
To compile and run the program, type the following instructions at the command prompt.
javac Myfirstprogram.java
java Myfirstprogram
Result / Output
This is my first program
javac keyword is used to compile the program and J ava to run the program.
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Student Activity 2
1. Write a simple J ava program.
2. How will you compile and run a J ava program?
4.6 SUMMARY
J ava is an Object-oriented language. Objects are software bundles of data and related
procedures. Basic concepts of object oriented programming include encapsulation,
inheritance and abstraction.
A class represents a category of related entities and is called an object or instance of that
class.
A J ava program can be compiled with javac and the output can be displayed through J ava.
4.7 KEYWORDS
Paradigm: Organizing principle of a program. It is an approach to programming.
Class: A class represents a set of related objects, or a template for building objects.
Object: An instantiation of a class.
Abstraction: Act of representing essential features without including the background details or
explanations.
Encapsulation: The wrapping up of data and functions into a single unit (class).
Inheritance: The process by which objects of one class acquire the properties of objects of
another class.
Polymorphism: The ability to make more than one form.
Dynamic Binding: The linking of a procedure call to the code to be executed in response to the
call.
Message: A request for execution of a procedure.
Operator Overloading: The process of making an operator to exhibit different behavior at different
instance.
Function Overloading: The process of making a function to perform various different types of
tasks.
4.8 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Fill in the blanks :
a. ________ are the basic real life entities in an object oriented system.
b. A _________ names a category of related entities or objects.
c. __________ is a keyword which makes the class available and accessible to any
one.
d. To get an idea about what your program is trying to do use __________ .
2. State whether the following are true or false:
a. Encapsulation is the capability to represent, denote and handle information at a
higher level that is inherent to a computer or base language.
b. Inheritance is a means for creating a new, more specific type from an existing more
general type.
c. Wrapping up of data and functions into a single unit (called class) is known as
encapsulation.
d. The J ava compiler compiles the source file into bytecodes which are then interpreted
by the J VM.
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Answers to Review Questions
1. (a) object (b) class (c) public (d) comments
2. (a) false (b) true (c) true (d) true
4.9 FURTHER READINGS
E..Balaguruswami, Programming with Java, Tata McGraw Hill.
Herbert Schilelt, The Complete Reference Java 2 Tata McGraw Hill.
Herbert Schildt, Java: The Complete Reference, J2SE TM ; 2005, Mc Graw-Hill Professional.
UNIT
5
DATA TYPES, VARIABLES AND ARRAYS
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe various data types available in J ava
Understand how to declare literals and variables in J ava.
Describe how to type cast various data types
Define arrays and its various types
Define vectors
Declare array in java.
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Data Types in J ava
5.3 Literals
5.4 Character
5.5 Variable Declaration
5.6 Symbolic Constants
5.7 Type Casting
5.8 Arrays
5.9 Vectors
5.10 Array Declaration Syntax
5.11 Summary
5.12 Keywords
5.13 Review Questions
5.14 Further Readings
5.1 INTRODUCTION
When working with computers, either for something as simple as writing a college paper or as
complex as solving quantum theory equations, the single most important thing for the computer
to do is diether programming language, J ava supports its own set of data types.
5.2 DATA TYPES IN JAVA
Primitive Data Types
J ava has eight primitive data types.
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Reserved Word Data Type Size Range of Values
byte Byte length integer 1 byte -2
8
to 2
7
-1
short Short integer 2 bytes -2
16
to 2
16
-1
int Integer 4 bytes -2
32
to 2
31
-1
long long integers 8 bytes -2
64
to 2
63
-1
float Single precision 4 bytes -2
32
to 2
31
-1
double Real number with double 8 bytes -2
64
to 2
62
-1
char character (16 bit unicode) 2 bytes 0 to 216 -1
boolean Has value true or false A boolean value true or false
Non Primitive
Datatypes which are built with the help of primitive data types but are not actually primitive are
known as non primitive datatypes.
5.3 LITERALS
Literals are pieces of J ava source code that indicate explicit values. For instance "Hello World !"
is a string literal and its meaning is the words Hello World. J ava has four different types of literals
String
Character
Number
Boolean.
String Literal
The string literal is always enclosed in double quotes. J ava uses a String Class to implement
strings, whereas C and C++use an array of characters. For example
"Hello World".
Character Literal
Character literals are similar to string literals except that they are enclosed in single quotesand
must have exactly one character. For example 'C' is a character literal that means the letter C.
Boolean Literal
Boolean literal can have either of the values: true or false. They do not correspond to the numeric
values 1 and 0 in C and C++.
Numeric Literals
There are two types of numeric literals : integers and floating point numbers. For example 34 is an
integer literal and it means the number thirty four. 1.5 is a floating point literal.
Student Activity 1
1. List primitive data types available in J ava.
2. What are non primitive data types?
3. What are literals? Name its various types.
4. What is the difference between string literals and character literals?
5. Name various types of numeric literals available in J ava.
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5.4 CHARACTER
Characters in J ava are a special set. They can be treated as either a 16 bit unsigned integer with a
value from 0-655 35 or as a unicode character. The unicode standard makes room for the use of
alphabets of many different languages. The syntax is
Char ch = 'b';
Boolean
A Boolean variable is not a number. It can have one of two values : true or false. There are two
ways to set it.
For example
mybool is a variable To change the variable to false type
mybool = false;
The second way is to assign the same value as in another variable
mybool = mybool1;
You can also make the variable have a value based on the equality of other numbers
mybool = 6 > 7;
5.5 VARIABLE DECLARATION
Identifiers are the names of variables. They must be composed of letters, numbers, the underscore
and the dollar sign ($). They cannot contain white spaces, identifiers may only begin with a letter,
the underscore or a dollar sign. You cannot begin a variable name with a number. All variable
names are case sensitive, for example myvar is not equal to MyVar.
Initialization
Variables can be assigned values through the syntax
myvar = 10; myvar = "Hello"; myvar = true;
Define Scope
There are three kinds of variables in J ava instance variables, class variables, local variables.
J ava does not have global variables (which can be used in all parts of a program). Instance
variables and class variables are used to communicate information from one object to another and
these replace the need for global variables. Local variables are used inside method definitions or
even smaller blocks of statements within a method. The modifiers define the scope of variables.
A variable declared without any access control modifier is available to any other class in the same
package. To completely hide a variable from being used by another class use PRIVATE.
In some cases, you may want a variable in a class to be completely available to any other class
that wants to use it, then it should be declared as public.
5.6 SYMBOLIC CONSTANTS
Variables are useful when you need to store information that can be changed as a program runs.
If the value should never change during a program's run time, you can use a special type of
variable called a constant. It is used when the value need not to be changed. Variables are also
useful in defining shared values for all methods of an object. To declare a constant use the final
keyword before the variable declaration. For example
final float Pi = 3.141592
5.7 TYPE CASTING
An int divided by an int is still an int and a double divided by a double is still a double. But what
about an int divided by double or a double divided by an int? When doing arithmetic on unlike
types, J ava tends to widen the types involved so as to avoid loosing information.
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The basic rule is that if any of the variables on the right hand side of an equal sign is double then
J ava treats all the values on the right hand side as doubles. If none of those values are double but
some are floats, then J ava treats all the values as floats. If there are no floats or doubles but there
are longs, then J ava treats all the values as longs. Finally, if there are no doubles, floats or longs,
then J ava treats everything as int.
However, if the right hand side may not be able to fit into the left hand side, then a series of
operations takes place to chop the right hand side down to size. For a conversion between a
floating point number and an int or a long, the fractional part of the floating point number is
truncated. For example
int i = (int) 9.0/4.0
The result will be converted to integer.
Converting Strings to Numbers
int i = Integer. valueOf ("22").intValue( );
long l = Long.valueOf ("22").longValue( );
double x = Double.valueOf ("22").doubleValue( );
Automatic Conversion
When one type of data is assigned to another type of variable, an automatic type conversion will
take place if the following two conditions are met:
The two types are compatible
The destination type is larger than the source type.
When these two conditions are met, a widening conversion takes place. For example an int type
is always large enough to hold all valid byte values, so no explicit statement is required.
For widening conversions, the numeric types including integer and floating point types are
compatible with each other. However, the numeric types are not compatible with char or boolean.
Also char and boolean are not compatible with each other. J ava also performs an automatic type
conversion when storing a literal Integer Constant into variables of type byte, short or long.
Student Activity 2
1. What is a Boolean variable?
2. Give the syntax for variable initialization.
3. Name different types of variables available in J ava.
4. What are symbolic constants?
5. What do you mean by type casting? Why does it required?
6. When does an automatic type conversion take place?
5.8 ARRAYS
An array is a group of like typed variables that are referred to by a common name. Arrays of any
type can be created and may have one or more dimensions. A specific element in an array is
accessed by its index.
One Dimensional Array
A one dimensional array is essentially a list of like typed variables. To create an array you must
first create an array variable of the desired type. The general form of a one-dimensional array
declaration is
type var-name [ ];
int month-days [ ];
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// Demonstrate a one dimensional array class array {
public static void main(String s[ ])
{
int month-days[ ];
month-days[0] = 31;
month-days[1] = 28;
month-days[2] = 31;
System.out.println ("march has" + month-days[3] + "days"];
}
}
class promote {
public static void main(String args[ ])
{
byte b = 42;
Char c = 'a';
Short s = 1024;
int i = 50000;
float f = 5.67f
double d = .1234;
double result = (f*b) + (i/c) - (d*s);
System.out.println (f*b) + "+" + (i/c) + " - " (d*x));
System.out.println ("result = " + result);
}
}
Multidimensional Arrays
In J ava, multimensional arrays are actually arrays of arrays. As you might expect, they look and
act like regular multidimensional arrays. However as you will see there are a couple of subtle
differences. To declare a multidimensional array variable, specify each additional index using
another set of square brackets.
inttwoD[ ] [ ] =new int [4] [5];
This allocates a 4 by 5 array and assigns it to twoD.
int twoD[ ] [ ] = new int [4] [5];
[0] [0] [0] [1] [0] [2] [0] [3] [0] [4]
[1] [0] [1] [1] [1] [2] [1] [3] [1] [4]
[2] [0] [2] [1] [2] [2] [2] [3] [2] [4]
[3] [0] [3] [1] [3] [2] [3] [3] [3] [4]
Left index
determines row
[0] [0] [0] [1] [0] [2] [0] [3] [0] [4]
[1] [0] [1] [1] [1] [2] [1] [3] [1] [4]
[2] [0] [2] [1] [2] [2] [2] [3] [2] [4]
[3] [0] [3] [1] [3] [2] [3] [3] [3] [4]
Left index
determines row
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5.9 VECTORS
Vector implements a dynamic array. It is similar to ArrayList but with two differences; vector is
synchronized and it contains many legacy methods. The methods are as follows:
Vector ( )
Vector (int Size)
Vector (int size, int incr)
The form creates a default vector which has an initial size of 10. The second form creates a vector
whose initial capacity is specified by size. The third form creates a vector whose initial capacity
is specified by size and whose increment is specified by incr.
Vector defines these protected data members
int capacityIncrement;
int elementCount;
object elementData[ ]k;
Some important methods are
public void addElement (object Element)
final int capacity( )
final Object elementAt(int index)
final int indexOf(object element)
final object firstElement( )
final void InsertElementAt(object element, int index)
final void removeElementAt(int index)
final void setSiz(int Size)
String toString( )
5.10 ARRAY DECLARATION SYNTAX
There is a second form that may be used to declare an array
type [ ] varname;
int a1[ ] = new int [3];
int [ ] a2 = new int [3]
Student Activity 3
1. What is an array?
2. Describe various types of arrays.
3. Give the syntax to declare an array in J ava.
4. What are vectors?
5.11 SUMMARY
Datatypes in J ava are strictly defined with aspect to their sizes, structures, usage and
casting.
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Data Types, Variables
and Arrays
These datatypes are light primitive datatypes like byte, int, char etc. and literals which
indicate explicit values.
Identifiers are names given to variables. Separators like period, parenthesis and semicolons
are used to define the structure of the program.
Casting between mixed datatypes of similar nature is performed implicitly and can also be
stated explicitly.
Array is a way of storing more than one same datatype values in a single variable. Arrays
can be of two types single and multidimensional.
Vector is another way of storing similar datatypes. It has different methods to manipulate it.
5.12 KEYWORDS
Data: Unprocessed facts and figures.
Syntax: The standard format used to declare any statement, method etc. in a programming language.
Constants: Data items that never change their value during a program run.
Variables: Identifiers used to store a data value.
Integer: Whole number without any fractional part.
Real Numbers: Numbers having fractional part.
String Literal: A sequence of characters surrounded by double quotes.
Data types: Means to identify the type of data and associated operations for handling it.
Initialization: The process of giving initial values to variables.
Default Value: The value assigned to the J ava variables by compiler if they are not initialized in
the program.
5.13 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Fill in the blanks
a. ___________ are reserved identifiers that cannot be used to name user defined
variables or methods.
b. __________ method is used to force a conversion from one datatype to another.
c. To convert a string into an int type, the function required is ________ .
d. When data types are converted explicitly, the method is called ________ .
e. Two main points for J ava's automatic conversion are _______ and _________.
2. State whether the following are true or false:
a. There is a conversion type defined between an int value to a long.
b. A variable is a basic unit of storage in a J ava program.
c. Multidimensional array is not possible in J ava.
d. Strings in J ava work as an array of characters.
e. True and false are not 0 and 1.
Answers to Review Questions
1. (a) keywords (b) type casting (c) intValue()
(d) automatic conversion (e) compatibility, size
2. (a) true (b) true (c) false (d) true (e) true
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5.14 FURTHER READINGS
E. Balaguruswami, Programming with Java, Tata McGraw-Hill.
Davis, Stephen R., Learn Java Now, Microsoft Press.
Naughton, Patrick, The Java Hand Book, OSborne McGraw- Hill.
Sams.net, J ava unleased.
Herbert Schildt, Java: The Complete Reference, J2SE TM, 2005, Mc Graw-Hill Professional.
UNIT
6
OPERATORS IN JAVA
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe various types of operators available in J ava
Describe operator precedence in J ava.
Understand how to override operator precedence.
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Arithmetic Operators
6.3 Basic Assignment Operators
6.4 Relational Operators
6.5 Boolean Logical Operators
6.6 Ternary Operator
6.7 Operator Precedence
6.8 Summary
6.9 Keywords
6.10 Review Questions
6.11 Further Readings
6.1 INTRODUCTION
J ava provides a rich operator environment. Most of its operators can be divided into the following
four groups: arithmetic, bit wise, relational and logical. Java also defines some additional operators
that handle certain special situations. Each operator performs a specific task it is designed for.
This unit describes some basic and important operators in J ava. At last we will also talk about
expressions in J ava and their type conversion.
6.2 ARITHMETIC OPERATORS
Arithmetic operators are used in mathematical expressions in the same way as they are used in
Algebra. The following table lists the Arithmetic operators.
Operator Function
+ Addition
Subtraction
* Multiplication
/ Division
% Modulus
+= Addition Assignment
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+= Subtraction Assignment
= Multiplication Assignment
* = Division Assignment
% = Modulus Assignment
- - Decrement
6.3 BASIC ASSIGNMENT OPERATORS
= Assignment
^= bitwise XOR and assign
& = bitwise AND and assign
% = take remainder and assign
- = Subtract and assign
* = Multiply and assign
/ = bitwise OR and assign
>>= Shift bits right with sign
extension and assign
<<= Shift bits left and assign
>>>= unsigned bit shift right and assign
6.4 RELATIONAL OPERATORS
Relational operators are binary operators that require two operands to work with. The operands
can be either constants or variables or expressions. The operators are as follows
> greater than
>= greater than or equal to
< less than
<= less than or equal to
! boolean not
! = not equal to
6.5 BOOLEAN LOGICAL OPERATORS
The boolean logical operators shown here operate only on boolean operands. All of the binary
logical operators combine two boolean values to form a resultant boolean value.
Operator Result
& Logical AND
| Logical OR
^ Logical XOR (exclusive OR)
| | Short Circuit OR
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Operators in J ava && Short Circuit AND
! Logical Unary Not
& = AND ASSIGNMENT
| = OR ASSIGNMENT
^= XOR Assignment
== Equal To
! = Not Equal To
? : Ternary if then else
6.6 TERNARY OPERATOR
J ava includes a special ternary (three-way) operator that can replace certain types of, if then else,
statements. This operator works in J ava much like it does in C and C++. It has this general form
expression1 ? expression2 ? : expression3
class Ternary {
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
int i, k;
i = 10;
k = i < 0 ? -i : i; // get absolute value of i
System.out.println ("Absolute value of");
System.out.println (i + "is" + u);
i = -10;
k = i < 0 ? -i : i;
System.out.print ("Absolute value of");
System.out.println (i + "is" + u);
}
}
class Boollogic {
public static void main (String s[ ])
{
boolean a = true;
boolean b = false;
boolean c = a | b;
boolean d = a & b;
boolean e = a ^ b;
boolean f = (!a & b) | (a & !b);
boolean g = !a;
System.out.println (" a = " + a);
System.out.println (" b = " + b);
System.out.println (" a/b = " + c);
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System.out.println (" a&b = " + d);
System.out.println (" a^b = " + e);
System.out.println (" !a&b|a&b = " + f);
System.out.println (" !a = " + g);
6.7 OPERATOR PRECEDENCE
Parentheses raise the precedence of the operations that are inside them. This is often necessary
to obtain the desired result. For example, consider the following expression
a >> b + 3
Highest
( ) [ ]
+ + - - ~ !
* / %
+
>> >>> <<
> > = < < =
= = ! =
&
^
|
&&
| |
?:
= op =
Lowest
Overriding Precedence
You can override the precedence by imposing brackets on the part which needs to be executed
first.
a >> (b + 3)
(a >> b) + 3
Student Activity 1
1. What are arithmetic operators?
2. What is integer arithmetic?
3. What are relational operators?
4. List the relational operators alongwith their meanings.
5. What are logical operators? Make the truth table for each logical operator.
6.8 SUMMARY
Java being the most powerful of all the available languages so far, comprises of the following
operators for usage within the program:
Arithmetic Operators
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Operators in J ava Assignment Operators
Relational Operators
Increment and Decrement Operators
Bitwise Operators
Logical Operators
Ternary Operators
6.9 KEYWORDS
Argument: A value that is sent to a method when the method is called.
Assignment expression: Assigns a value to a variable.
Character: A value used in text. For example, the Petters A-the digits 0-9 (when not used as
mathematical values), spaces, and even tabs and carriage returns are all characters.
Data type: The type of value represented by a constant, variable, or some other program object.
Expression: A line of program code that can be reduced to a value or that assigns a value.
Logical expression: An expression that results in a value of true or false.
Logical Operators: Operators like && (AND) and ||(OR) that enables you to create logical
expressions that yield true or false results.
Operator precedence: Determines the order in which mathematical operations are performed.
6.10 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What are assignment operators?
2. What is operator precedence ? How can you override it?
3. What is the difference between ternary and boolean logical operators?
4. Write a program to calculate the average of three marks.
5. Write a program to check whether two input values are similar or not and then print the
message accordingly.
6.11 FURTHER READINGS
E. Balaguruswamy, Programming with Java, Tata McGraw-Hill.
Davis, Stephen R., Learn Java Now, Microsoft Press.
Naught on, Patrick, The Java Hand Book, OSborne McGraw-Hill.
Sams.net, J ava unleased.
Herbert Schildt, Java: The Complete Reference, J2SE TM, 2005, Mc Graw-Hill Professional.
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7
CONTROL STATEMENTS
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe various types of selection statements available in J ava
Describe various iteration constructs available in J ava
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
7.1 Introduction
7.2 J ava's Selection Statements
7.3 Switch
7.4 Nested Switch
7.5 Iteration Constructs
7.6 Continue
7.7 Return
7.8 The For Statement
7.9 Summary
7.10 Keywords
7.11 Review Questions
7.11 Further Readings
7.1 INTRODUCTION
A programming language uses control statements to cause the flow of execution to advance and
branch based on changes in the state of a program. J ava's program control statements can be put
into the following categories : selection, iteration and jump. These have been discussed in this
unit.
7.2 JAVA'S SELECTION STATEMENTS
J ava supports two selection statements if and switch. These statements allow you to control
the flow of your program's execution based upon conditions known only during run time.
If
The if statement is J ava's conditional branch statement. It can be used to route program execution
through two different paths. Here is the general form
if (condition) statement1;
else statement2;
Here each statement may be a single statement or a compound statement enclosed in curly braces
(that is, a block). The condition is any expression that returns a boolean value, the else clause is
optional.
The if works like this : if the condition is true, then statement1 is executed, otherwise statement 2
is executed.
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Control Statements Example
int a, b;
if (a<b) a = 0;
else b = 0;
Another Example for if-else if-else ladder is
int score = 65;
char grade;
if (score > = 90)
grade = 'A';
else if (score > = 70)
grade = 'C';
else if (score > = 60)
grade = 'D';
else
grade = 'F';
Student Activity 1
1. What is a selection statement? Which selection statements does J ava provide?
2. What is the significance of a test-condition in an if statement?
3. Correct the following code fragment:
If (x = 1)
k=100;
else
k=10;
4. Write a program in J ava to accept three integers and print the largest of the three. Make use
of only if statement.
5. Write a program in J ava to create the equivalent of a four-function calculator. The program
requires the user to enter two numbers and an operator. It then carries out the specified
arithmetical operation: addition, subtraction, multiplication or division of the two numbers.
Finally, it displays the result.
7.3 SWITCH
The general form of a switch is
switch (expression)
{
case Value1 :
Codesegment1
case Value2 :
Codesegment2
. . .
case Value :
Codesegment N
default :
defaultCodeSegment
}
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A switch statement is used for multiple way selection that will branch to different code segments
based on the value of a variable or an expression. The optional default label is used to specify the
code segment to be executed when the value of the variable or expression does not match with
any of the case values. If there is no break statement as the last statement in the code segment for
a certain case, the execution will continue on into the code segment for the next case clause
without checking the case value.
An example of a switch statement
class switchTest
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
int month = 4;
String season;
switch (month)
{
case 12 :
case 1 :
case 2:
season = "Writer";
break;
case 3 :
case 4 :
case 5 :
season = "Spring";
break;
case 6 :
case 7 :
case 8 :
season = "Summer";
break;
case 9 :
case 10 :
case 11 :
season = "Autumn
break;
default :
season = "Bogus Month";
}
System.out.println ("April is in the" + season + ".");
}
}
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7.4 NESTED SWITCH
You can use a switch as part of the statement sequence of an outer switch. This is called a nested
switch. Since a switch statement defines it own block, no conflicts arise between the case constants
in the inner switch and those in the outer switch.
switch (count)
{
case 1 :
switch (target)
{
case 0 :
System.out.println ("target is zero");
break;
case 1 :
System.out.println ("target is one");
break;
}
break;
case 2 : // . . .
Here, the case 1 : statement in the inner switch does not conflict with the case 1 : statement in the
outer switch. The count variable is only compared with the list of cases at the outer level. If count
is 1, then target is compared with the inner list cases.
To summarize, there are three important features of the switch statement to note : the switch
differs from the if, in that switch can only test for equality, whereas if can evaluate any type of
boolean expression. That is, the switch looks only for a match between the value of the expression
and one of its case constants.
No two case constants in the same switch can have identical values. A switch statement enclosed
by an outer switch can have case constants in common.
A switch statement is usually more efficient than a set of nested ifs.
The last point is particularly interesting because it gives insight into how the J ava compiler
works. When it compiles a switch statement, the J ava compiler will inspect case of the case
constants and create a "jump table" that it will use for selecting the parts of execution depending
on the value of the expression. Therefore, if you need to select among a large group of values, a
switch statement will run much faster than the equivalent logic coded using a sequence of if-
elses. The compiler can do this because it knows that the case constants are all of the same type
and simply must be compared for equality with the switch expression.
Student Activity 2
1. One out of several different alternatives can be selected with the help of which statement?
2. Write one limitation and one advantage of a switch statement.
3. What is the significance of a break statement in a switch statement?
4. Write a program in java to input number of weeks day (1-7) and translate it to its equivalent
name of the week.
7.5 ITERATION CONSTRUCTS
Java's iteration statements are for, while and do-while. These statements create what we commonly
called Loops. As you probably know, a loop repeatedly executes the same set of instructions until
a termination condition is met.
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While loop
The while loop is J ava's most fundamental looping statement. It repeats a statement or block
while its controlling expression is true.
while (condition)
{
// body of Loop
}
class whileTest
{
public static void main (String s[ ])
{
int n = 10;
while (n > 0)
{
System.out.println ("tick" + n)
n - -;
}
}
}
do-while
As you just saw, if the conditional expression controlling a while loop is initially false, then the
body of the loop will not be executed at all. However, sometimes it is desirable to execute the body
of a while loop at least once, even if the conditional expression is false to begin with. Its general
form is
do
{
// body of Loop
}
while (condition);
Each iteration of the do-while loop first executes the body of the loop and then evaluates the
conditional expression.
If this expression is true, the loop will replay. Otherwise the loop terminates,
class dowhileTest
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
int n = 10;
do
{
System.out.println ("tick" + n);
n - -;
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}
while (n > 0);
}
}
Break
A Break statement exits a loop before an entry condition fails. In the example shown below an
error message is printed and you break out of the for loop if j becomes negative.
Class uptec
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
int i, j, k;
j = i;
k = 0;
for (i = 1; i < = 64; i ++)
{
j * 2 ;
if (j < = 0)
{
System.out.println ("Error :
overflow");
break;
}
k + = j;
System.out.print (k + "It");
if (i = = 0)
System.out.println ( );
}
System.out.println ("All done!");
}
}
The most common use of break is in switch statement. Another general form of break statement is
break label; where the label is optional. Without a label, the break statement will transfer the
program control to the statement just after the innermost enclosing loop or switch statement.
With a label, it will transfer the program control to the statement just after the enclosing statement
or block of statements carrying the same label.
Example:
PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter (System.out);
Outerloop :
for (int i = 0, count = 0; i < dailyhigh.length; i++)
for (int j = 0; j < dailyhigh [i].length; j++)
if ((dailyhigh [i] [j] > 70) & (++ count = = 3))
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{
out.println ("The data is : month : " + (i + 1) + , day =" + (j + 1));
break Outerloop;
}
7.6 CONTINUE
The general form of a continue statement is :
continue Label;
where the label is optional. Without a label, it behaves exactly the same as in C and C++. The
program control is transferred to the point right after the last statement in the enclosing loop
body. In while and do statement, the condition at expression1 will not be retested.
In for loop, the increment statements will be executed next. With a label the program, control will
be transferred to the end of the enclosing loop body with the same label, instead of the innermost
one.
For example, the following code segment defines a method to return the offset position of the first
occurrence of one string str2 in the other string str1.
int indexof (String Str1, String str2)
{
int len1 = str1.length ( );
int len2 = str2.length( );
char str2.firstChar = str2. CharAt(0);
advanceOneCharAtStr1:
for (int i = 0; i + len2 < = len1; i++)
if (str1. CharAt (i) = = str2 FirstChar)
{
for (int j = 1; j < len2; j++)
if (Str1.CharAt (i+j) ! = str2. CharAt (j))
continue advanceOneCharAtStr1;
return i;
}
return - 1;
}
It is sometimes necessary to exit from the middle of a loop. Sometimes you will want to start over
at the top of the loop. Sometimes you will want to leave the loop completely. For these purposes
J ava provides the break and continue statements. A continue statement returns to the beginning
of the innermost enclosing loop without completing the rest of the statements in the body of the
loop. If you are in a for loop, the counter is incremented.
for (int i = 0; i < m.length; i++)
{
if (m (i)%2 = = 0) continue;
// process
}
The continue statement is rarely used in practice because most of the instances where it is useful
have simpler implementations. For instance, the above fragment could equally well have been
written as :
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Control Statements
for (int i = 0; i < m.length : i++)
{
if (m[i] % 2 ! = 0)
{
}
}
7.7 RETURN
The general form of return statement is
return Expression;
A return statement is used to return control to the caller from within a method or constructor. If the
method is defined to return a value, the expression must be evaluated to the return type of that
method. Otherwise only an unlabeled return statement can be used.
Student Activity 3
1. What are iteration statements? Name the iteration statements provided in J ava.
2. What is the difference between a while and do-while loop?
3. How many times is the loop body executed in a do loop?
4. How many times is the following loop executed?
int s =0, i= 0;
while (i++<5)
s+=I;
5. How many times is the following loop executed?
int s=0, i =0;
do
s+=i
while (i<5);
6. Write a program in J ava to print largest even and largest odd number from a list of numbers
entered through keyboard. The list terminates as soon as one enters 0(zero).
7.8 THE FOR STATEMENT
The for loop is the easiest to understand of the J ava loops. All its loop-control elements are
gathered in one place (on the top of the loop), while in the other loop construction of C++, they
(top-control elements) are scattered about the program. The syntax of the for loop statement is for
(initialization expression(s); test condition; update expression)
{
loop-body
}
The following example program illustrates the use of for statement.
//program to print numbers from 1 to 10
class ForTest
{
public static void main(String args[ ])
{
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int i;
for (i=1, i<=10; i++)
System.out.prinln (i);
}
}
The following lines explain the working of the above given for loop.
1. Firstly, initialization expression is executed i.e. i=1 which gives the first value 1 to variablei.
2. Then, the test condition is evaluated i.e. i<=10 which results into true i.e. 1.
3. Since, the test-condition is true, the body-of-the loop i.e. System.out.prinln (i); is executed
which prints the current value of i on the next line.
4. After executing the loop-body, the update expression i.e.++i is executed which increments
the value of i.
5. After the update expression is executed, the test-condition is again evaluated. If it is true,
the sequence is repeated from step number 3, otherwise the loop terminates.
Additional Features of For Loop
J ava offers several features of for loop that increases the flexibility and applicability of for loop.
1. Multiple initialization and update expressions: A for loop may contain multiple initialization
and /or multiple/update expressions. These multiple expressions must be separated by
commas. For example ,

for (i=1, sum=0; i <=n, sum +=i, ++i)

system.println (i);

The above code fragment contains two initialization expressions i=1 and sum =0 and two
update expressions sum+=i & ++i. These multiple expressions area executed in sequence
i.e. during initialization firstly i=1 takes place followed by sum=0. Similarly, during updation,
firstly sum +=i takes place followed by ++i
2. Optional expressions: In a for loop, initialization expressions, test expression and update
expression are optional i.e. you can skip any or all of these expressions. Say, for example,
you already have initialized the loop variable and you want to scrap off the initialization
expression then you can write for loop as follows:
for (;test-condition; update expressions (s))
loop body
See, even if you skip initialization expression of a for loop, but the ; following it must be
present.
3. Infinite loop: Although any loop statement can be used to create an infinite (endless loop)
yet for is traditionally used for this purpose. An infinite for loop can be created by omitting
the test-expression as shown below:

for (i=25; ;i)

System.out.println (An Infinite for loop)
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Control Statements 4. Empty loop: If a loop does not contain any statement in its loop-body, it is said to be an
empty loop. In such cases, a C++loop contains an empty statement i.e., a null statement.
For example,
for (j=20; (j); j);
is an empty loop.
Nesting of For Loops
A for loop may contain another loop in its body. This form of a loop is called nested loop. In a
nested loop, the inner loop must terminate before the outer loop. The following is an example of
a nested loop:
for (outer=1; outer<10; outer+=4)
{
for (inner=1; inner<=outer; inner +=2)
{
System.out.print(outer);
System.out.print( );
System.out.println(inner);
}
}
:
While working with nested loops, you need to understand one thing and that is, the value of
outer loop variable will change only after the inner loop is completely finished (or interrupted).
The above code will produce the output as:0
1 1 Inner loop got over after value 1s iteration
1 1
Change in 5 3 inner loop got over after value 5s iteration
Outers value 5 5
5
9 1
Change in 9 3
Outers value 9 5 inner loop got over after value 9s iteration
9 7
9 9

7.9 SUMMARY
J ava's selection statement, is if-else, is used to decide an action on various conditions.
J ava also has a switch statement to decide on various conditions but it is used mostly when
there are more conditions.
Iteration statements are statements that repeat the action until the specified condition is
met, which are while and do-while.
while checks the condition first and then the action is taken and do while checks the
condition when the action at least once gets performed.
J ump statements are break, continue and return.
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7.10 KEYWORDS
Infinite loop: A loop that never ends.
Iteration statement: Statement that allows a set of instructions to be performed repeatedly.
Jump statement: Statement that unconditionally transfers program control within a function.
Nested loop: A loop that contains another loop inside its body.
7.11 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Fill in the blanks
a. To exit a loop before it is completed, the _______ statement can be used.
b. To check a condition which in turn checks a condition again is done through _______.
c. To check the condition first and then execute the action can be done through
_________ .
d. To start with a certain point during the loop can be done through _________.
2. State whether the following are true or false
a. The while loop is a post tested loop.
b. Continue statement is used to skip the rest of the loop and start again from the
beginning of the loop.
3. Write a J ava program to convert metres to kilometres and display the output.
4. Write a J ava program that will reverse a given number (i) passed to it as a command line
argument.
5. Declare a constant in the program and display the reversed number.
6. Write a J ava program that will display the Fibonacci Series 112358 . . .
7. Write a program that will display the command line arguments passed to it with the provisions
that the (i) loop will break if one of the command line arguments is "Goodbye" (ii) the loop
will continue from the beginning, skipping the rest of the loop if one of the arguments is
"Welcome".
Answers to review questions
1. (a) break (b) nested loops (c) while(d)continue
2. (a) false (b) true
7.12 FURTHER READINGS
E. Balaguruswamy, Programming with Java, Tata McGraw-Hill.
Davis, Stephen R., Learn Java Now, Microsoft Press.
Naughton, Patrick, The Java Hand Book, OSborne McGraw- Hill.
Sams.net, J ava unleased.
Herbert Schildt, The Complete Reference Java 2, Tata McGraw-Hill.
UNIT
8
CLASSES : AN INTRODUCTION
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Define a class
Give the general form of a class
Declare a simple class
Define methods
Add methods to a class
Define constructors
Describe the usage of this keyword
Describe garbage collection
Describe Finalize() method
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
8.1 Introduction
8.2 What is a Class
8.3 What are Methods
8.4 Summary
8.5 Keywords
8.6 Review Questions
8.7 Further Readings
8.1 INTRODUCTION
At the end of this lesson you should be able to define a class and create its objects using new
operator. Also you should be able to write instance methods with / without parameter and with /
without return value. You will also learn the special method called constructor. You should
understand the meaning of 'this' keyword.
8.2 WHAT IS A CLASS
A class is a user defined data type with a template that serves to define its properties and
operations. Once the class has been defined, we can create 'Variables' of that type. These variables
are termed as instances of classes, which are the actual objects.
A General form of Class
The general form of a class definition is
class classname
{
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[variable declarations;]
[methods declarations;]
}
for e.g. ;
The data, or variables, defined within a class are called instance variables. The code is
contained within methods. These are also called members of the class.
In order to describe the characteristics of all pens, you might define a pen class and specify
operations such as write and refill and attributes such as ink colour and ink remaining.
When you create individual pen objects to represent my blue pen, teacher's red pen, you
may initialize ink colour and ink amount.
Class as Datatype
J ava has four kinds of named data types and two categories of variables. The data types are
primitives, classes, interfaces and arrays. Variables can either contain primitive values or refer to
objects.
A class creates a new data type that can be used to create objects. A class creates a logical
framework that defines the relationship between its members.
When you declare an object of a class, you are creating an instance of that class. Thus, a class is
a logical construct. An object has physical reality.
Simple Class
class Movie
{
String title;
int length;
int cost;
char type;
void getdata (int x, int y, int z)
{
length = x;
cost = y;
type = z;
}
Movie (String s)
{
title = s;
}
}
Class declaration only creates a template. It does not create an actual object, and hence does not
occupy memory. To actually create movie object you will use a statement:
Movie mov1 = new Movie ("Mr. India");
Movie mov2 = new Movie( );
Declaring Objects
Class is a static definition that enables us to understand all the objects of that class. Objects exist
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Classes : An Introduction at run time. They hold attributes and they send messages to each other Classes, however, do not
exist at run time.
Each instance of the class (that is, each object of the class) contains its own copy of the variables.
In case of the movie class, each individual movie is an instance of movie. "Gone with the wind"
is one distinct instance of movie while "Last action her" is another. Each has its own set of
variables. For e.g. mov1 and mov2 objects have four instance variables each mov1.title,
mov1.length, mov2.title, mov2.length.
New Operator
Each new object is identified within J ava by a unique object reference.
objectref =new Classname( );
For e.g. to create two movie objects
Movie Mov1 =new Movie ("Gone with the wind");
Movie mov2 =new Movie ("Last action Hero");
The above statements create new instance variables of Movie type named mov1 and mov2. New
operator assigns object's reference to mov1 and mov2 which points to the location of that object
in memory. New operator allocates memory for the new objects and also calls a special initialization
method in the class called constructor. It returns a reference to the new object. New operator
knows how much memory is required by looking at the class definition. It calls the constructor to
initialize the instance variables in the new object. However, declaring a new object variable
receives a chunk of memory only large enough to hold a reference to an object.
Class definition typically includes:
Access Modifier
Class Keyword
Instance Fields
Constructors
Instance Methods
Class Fields
Class Methods
A class is an encapsulated collection of data and methods to operate on data.
Access Modifier : Specifies the availability of the class from other classes. The access
modifiers are private, public and protected.
Class Keyword : Tells J ava that the following code block defines a class.
Instance Fields : Variable and constants that are used by objects of the class.
Constructors : Methods having the same name as class, used to control the initial
state of any class object.
Instance Methods : Define the functions that can act upon objects in this class.
Class Fields : Variables and constants that belong to the class and are shared by all
objects of that class.
Class Methods : Methods used to control the values of class fields.
public class employee
{
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// Instance Variables
String custName;
String Address;
float Amt;
// Class Variable
static int ctr = 0;
// Class Methods
public static void counter ( )
{
ctr = ctr + 1;
}
// constructor
employee( )
{
custname = " ";
Address = " ";
Amt = 0.0;
employee (String a, String b, float f)
{
custname = a;
Address = b;
Amt = f;
}
// Instance Method
void getdata (String a, String b, float f)
{
custname = a;
Address = b;
Amt = f;
}
}
Object Reference Variable
Object reference variables are declared in J ava with a statement that gives the type of object to
which the variable is expected to refer.
e.g.:
Object anyRef;
String myString;
The type of references these variables can hold depend on the object hierarchy. Because every
class in J ava descends from Object, anyRef could refer to any object. However, because String
cannot be subclassed, myString can refer to a string object only. The content of newly created
reference variable depends on where it is declared. For instance, in variables and class variables,
the content is null. Variables that are declared inside the blocks are uninitialized.
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Classes : An Introduction The instanceof operator returns true for any type in the operand's parentage. For instance consider
the following hierarchy
java.lang.object
|-java.awt.component
|-java.awt.container
|-java.awt.Panel
|-java.awt.ScrollPane
|-java.awt.Window
|-java.awt.Dialog
|-java.awt.FileDialog
Panel testObj = new Panel( );
The instanceof operator returns true for any type in the operand's parentage.
testObj instanceof java.awt.Panel
testObj instanceof java.aw.component
This feature of J ava can be used for manipulating collection of objects. For e.g. Vector and Stack
class can accept and return any references of an Object reference.
Students Activity 1
1. What is a class?
2. Give the general form of a class?
3. Why and how are objects of a class declared?
4. What are objects?
5. What is the role of access modifier?
6. How are object reference variables declared in J ava?
8.3 WHAT ARE METHODS
A J ava method is equivalent to a function, procedure, or subroutine in other languages except
that it must be defined inside a class definition. Instance methods form the foundation of
encapsulation and are a key to providing a consistent interface to the class.
Adding Methods to Classes
Methods are declared inside the body of the class but immediately after the declaration of
instance variables. The general form of a method declaration is
Returntype methodName (parameter list)
{
Method-body;
}
A Returntype can be a primitive type such as int, a class type such as string or void.
A MethodName begins with a lowercase letter and compound words in the method name should
begin with uppercase letter according to J ava convention.
An optional parameter list/argument list must be inside parentheses, separated by commas.
The method-body must be enclosed in braces.
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Return Value
The return type specifies the type of value the method would return. This could be a simple data
type such as int as well as any class type or it could even be void type if the method does not
return any value.
e.g.: class Box
{
double width;
double height;
double depth;
double volume( )
{
return width * height * depth;
}
class ABC
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
Box mybox1 = new Box( );
double vol;
mybox1.width = 10;
mybox1.height = 20;
mybox1.depth = 15;
vol = mybox1.volume( );
System.out.println ("Volume is" + vol);
}
}
The type of the data returned by a method must be compatible with the return type specified by
the method.
The variable receiving the value returned by a method must also be compatible with the return
type specified for the method.
Method Accepting Parameters
The parameter list is always enclosed in parentheses. This list contains variable names and types
of all the values we want to give to the method as input. If the method does not take any
argument, simply leave the parentheses empty.
class Rectangle
{
int length; int width;
void getdata (int x, int y)
{
length = x;
width = y;
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}
int rectArea( )
{
int area = length * width;
return (area);
}
}
In the above example, length and width are instance variables.
x and y are parameters.
void indicates method, does not return a value.
When a primitive is passed to a method, a copy of the value is generated. If the method
changes the value of the argument in any way, only local argument will be affected. When the
method terminates, this local argument is discarded and the original variable in the calling method
is unchanged.
class Rectangle
{
int length;
int width;
void change (int l, int w)
{
l = l + 10;
w = w + 10;
System.out.println ("l =" + l + "w = " +w);
}
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
int len = 20;
int thick = 20;
Rectangle rect = new Rectangle( );
rect.change (len, thick);
System.out.println ("len" + len + "thickness" + thick);
}
}
20
l
20
len
20
w
20
thick
20
l
20
len
20
w
20
thick
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Accessing Class members
class Rectangle
{
int length, width;
void getData (int x, int y)
{
length = x;
width = y;
}
int rectarea ( )
{
int area = length * width;
return (area);
}
}
class RectArea
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
int area1, area2;
Rectangle rect1 = new Rectangle ( );
Rectangle rect2 = new Rectangle( );
rect1.length = 15 // Accessing variables
rect1. width = 10
area1 = rect1.length * rect1.width
rect2.getData (20, 12);
area2 = rect2.rectArea( );
System.out.println ("Area1 = "+ area1);
System.out.println ("Area2 = "+ area2);
}
}
Use the dot operator with instance variable and to call instance methods. The general syntax is
Objref.instance variable;
Objref.MethodName (arguments);
Student Activity 2
1. What are methods?
2. How will you add methods to a class?
3. What is the function of return value?
4. What happens when a primitive is passed to a method?
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Constructor
When an object is created, J ava performs default initialization, char variables are set to '\u0000',
byte, short, int, long to zero, boolean to false, float to 0.0
All objects that are created must be given initial values. We can do it,
1. by assigning the value to instance variable using dot operator.
2. through instance method for e.g. getdata( )
3. by using constructor method to initialize an object when it is first created.
Constructors have the same name as class itself.
Constructors do not specify a return type.
Constructor is called automatically by the run time system.
For e.g.
class Rectangle
{
int length, width;
Rectangle (int x, int y) // constructor
{
length = x;
width = y;
}
int rectArea( )
{
return (length * width);
}
}
class ABC
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{ Rectangle rect = new Rectangle( )
Rectangle rect1 = new Rectangle (15, 10) // calling constructor
int area1 = rect1. rectArea ( );
System.out.println ("Area1 = "+ area1);
}
}
Object
rect
Length=null
width=null
Object
rect1
Length=15
width=10
Object
rect
Length=null
width=null
Object
rect1
Length=15
width=10
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If you do not provide any constructors, a default no-arg constructor is provided for you. This
constructor takes no arguments and does nothing. If you want a specific no argument constructor
as well as constructors that take arguments, you must explicitly provide your own no argument
constructor.
"this" Keyword
All instance methods receive an implicit argument called "this", which may be used inside any
method to refer to the current object i.e., the object on which method was called. Inside an
instance method, any unqualified reference is implicitly associated with the this reference.
public void setRating (String st)
{
rating = st;
this.rating = st;
}
Usage of this keyword:
When you need to pass a reference to the current object as an argument to another method.
When the name of the instance variable and parameter is the same, parameter hides the
instance variable.
class Rectangle
{
int length, width;
Rectangle (int length, int w);
{
length = length; // incorrect
width = w; // correct
this.length = length; // incorrect
}
}
Garbage Collection
Garbage collection is the process that handles memory allocation. It is incharge of cleaning the
memory space allocated to the objects that are not in use.
Movie mov1 = null;
Rectangle Rect1 = null;
This declares mov1, rect1 with a special reference called null. This indicates that the reference
does not refer to a real object yet.
Discarding an Object :
When you have finished using an object, you can set its reference to null. This indicates
that the variable no longer refers to the object and object will be marked for garbage
collection. The J ava Virtual Machine automatically decrements the number of active
references to an object whenever an object is de-referenced, goes out of scope.
All J ava objects automatically grab the memory that they need when they are created, and
when the object is no longer needed, the J ava garbage collection process reclaims the
memory.
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finalize ( ) Method
J VM is supposed to run an object's finalize method after it has decided that an object has no
references and thus, should be recovered, but before actually reclaiming the memory.
Java manages memory automatically so an object does not need to explicitly free up any secondary
memory it might have allocated. To allow an object to clean up resources other than memory, such
as open files, J ava allows a class to provide a finalize( ) method. Unfortunately, there is no
guarantee as to when this will happen. It is implementation specific.
If an object holds another resource such as a file, the object should reclaim it. Finalize method is
called automatically before garbage collection.
Student Activity 3
1. What are constructors?
2. How can you give an initial value to an object?
3. Describe the usage of this keyword.
4. What do you mean by garbage collection?
5. How can you discard an object?
6. Describe the usage of finalize() method.
8.4 SUMMARY
An object is an abstraction of a real world object and is a run time entity.
A class is a template for objects.
An object is an instance of a particular class.
Object can be created by using new operator.
Manipulate an object by using its instance methods.
Instance method receives a "this" reference to the current object.
Most classes provide one or more constructors to initialize instance variables.
When all references to an object are lost it is marked for garbage collection. Garbage
collection reclaims memory used by the object. Garbage collection is automatic.
The finalize method is called just before garbage collection.
8.5 KEYWORDS
Classes: A collection of variables and methods that an object can have, or a template for building
objects.
Objects: An instantiation of a class.
Methods: A routine that belongs to a class.
Fields: A data object encapsulated in a class.
Instance: A concrete representation of a class or object. A class can have many instances.
Inheritance: A property of object-oriented languages where a class inherits the methods and
variables of more general classes.
8.6 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Define each of these terms with an example:
a. Class b. Instance Variable c. Instance Method
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2. Identify instance variables, class variables, method variables, classname in the following
example
class ABC
{
static int z;
int x;
int y;
ABC( )
{
x = 0;
y = 0;
}
void initz ( )
{
z = 10;
}
int calc (int a, int b)
{
int sum;
sum = a + b;
return sum;
}
}
3. Find out errors.
Class house
{
int width;
int length;
int height;
}
4. What is a constructor ?
5. What is the use of "this" keyword ?
6. Create a class called student with the following characteristics and behaviour. The student
is given a unique serial number starting with '1'. The student has name, address. He
appears in the exams for three different subjects. The class should be able to provide the
grade of the student on the basis of the following criterion.
Total Marks Grade
80-100 "Excellent"
65-80 "Good"
50-65 "Pass"
<50 "Fail"
Use constructor to input Roll No and name, and one instance method to store marks.
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8.7 FURTHER READINGS
E. Balaguruswami, Programming with Java, Tata McGraw-Hill.
Davis, Stephen R., Learn Java Now, Microsoft Press.
Naughton, Patrick, The Java Hand Book, OSborne McGraw- Hill.
Sams.net, J ava unleased.
Herbert Schildt, The Complete Reference Java 2, Tata McGraw-Hill.
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9
METHOD AND CLASSES IN DETAIL
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Define method overloading
Describe constructor overloading
Describe a default constructor
Define objects as parameters
Describe recursion
Describe access control
Describe static and final variables and methods
Describe nesting of classes
Describe string class
Describe command line arguments.
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Method Overloading
9.3 Constructor Overloading
9.4 Objects as Parameters
9.5 Returning Objects
9.6 Recursion
9.7 Access Control / Visibility
9.8 Understanding Static, Final
9.9 Nested and Inner Classes
9.10 The String Class
9.11 Command Line Arguments
9.12 Summary
9.13 Keywords
9.14 Review Questions
9.15 Further Readings
9.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous unit we talked about classes, objects, instance methods and constructors. This
unit focuses primarily on method overloading and constructors. After going through this unit
you will be able to write methods with primitive parameters in addition to passing objects as
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parameters and returning primitive objects to the calling method. You will also be able to explore
the different types of access modifiers and usage of command line arguments.
9.2 METHOD OVERLOADING
In J ava, it is possible to create methods that have the same name, provided they have different
signatures. A signature is formed from its name, together with the number and types of its
arguments. The method in return type is not considered a part of the method signature. Method
overloading is used when objects are required to perform a similar task but by using different
input parameters. When we call a method in an object, J ava matches up the method name first,
and then the number and type of parameters, to decide which method to execute. This process is
known as polymorphism.
public class Movie
{ float price;
public void setprice( )
{
price = 3.50;
}
public void setprice (float newprice)
{
price = newprice;
}
}
Movie mov1 = new Movie( );
mov1.setprice( );
mov1.setprice (3.25);
As you can see setprice( ) is overloaded two times. The first version takes no argument and sets
the price to 3.50 and second constructor takes single argument which sets the price to 3.25.
When an overloaded method is called, J ava looks for a match between the argument used to call
the method and method's parameters. However, this match need not be exact. In some cases
J ava's automatic type conversion takes the important role in overloaded resolution.
Example :
public class Movie
{
float price;
public void disp( )
{
System.out.println ("No parameter");
}
public void disp (int x, int y)
{
System.out.println ("x =" + x + "y =" + y);
}
public void disp (double x)
{
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System.out.println ("x =" + x);
}
}
class overload
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
Overload ob = new overload( );
int i = 100;
ob.disp( ) // invokes no argument constructor
ob.disp (10, 20) // invokes disp (int, int)
ob.disp (i) // invokes disp (double)
ob.disp (100.50) // invokes disp (double)
}
}
Class Movie does not define disp (int). When disp (int) is called from main( ), when no matching
method is found, J ava automatically converts an integer into a double. J ava uses its automatic
type conversion only if no exact match is found.
J ava's standard class library has abs( ) method. This method returns absolute value of all type of
numeric types e.g. int, double, float. This method is overloaded in Math class. Whereas in 'C'
language there are three methods abs( ), fabs( ), labs( ) to return absolute of int, float and long
values respectively, the java.awt.Graphics class has six different drawImage methods.
As far as J ava is concerned, these are entirely different methods. The duplicate names are really
just a convenience for the programmer.
9.3 CONSTRUCTOR OVERLOADING
Constructors are chunks of code used to initialize a new object. As with overloaded methods, if
you want to provide more than one constructor in a class, each one must have a different
signature. Constructors always have the name of the class and no return type.
Example :
public class Movie
{
private String title;
private String rating = "PG";
public Movie( )
{
title = "Last Action--";
}
public Movie (String Ntitle)
{
title = Ntitle;
}
}
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Calls no argument Constructor Movie mov1 = new Movie( );
Calls Single argument Constructor Movie mov2 = new Movie("Gone
with the Wind");
Class can have any number of constructors as long as they have different signatures.
Default Constructor
If no constructors are declared in a class, the compiler will create a default constructor that takes
no parameter.
When you create new Movie object, the compiler decides which constructor to call, based on the
argument specified in parentheses in the new statement. Constructor can call another constructor
of the same class by using the this( ) syntax. By using this( ), you avoid duplicate code in multiple
constructors. This technique is used when Initialization routine is complex.
public class Movie
{
private String title;
private String rating;
public Movie( )
{
this ("G");
}
public Movie (String newRating)
{
rating = newRating;
}
}
Rules : The call to this( ) must be the first statement in the constructor. The argument to this( )
must match those of the target constructor.
Student Activity 1
1. What do you mean by method overloading?
2. Give an example to describe polymorphism.
3. What do you mean by constructor overloading?
4. What is a default constructor?
9.4 OBJECTS AS PARAMETERS
When a primitive value is passed into a method, a copy of its value is passed into the method
argument. If the method changes the value of the argument in any way, only the local argument
is affected. When the method terminates, this local argument is discarded.
int num=150; num
obj.nmethod (num); 150
System.out.printIn ("num"+num);
public void amethod (int a) A=150
{
If (a<0 || a>100) Output
a=0; arg: 0
System.out.printIn ("arg:"+a) num: 150
}
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This way of method calling is called call-by-value.
When an object reference is passed to a method the argument refers to the
original object :
Movie mov1 = new movie ("Gone with the Wind");
mov1.setRating ("PG");
anobj.amethod (mov1);
public void aMethod (Movie ref)
{
ref.setRating ("R");
}
When mov1 is passed into aMethod( ), the method receives a reference to the original Movie
object. When aMethod( ) terminates, the original Movie object referred to by mov1 has a rating
of 'R' not 'PG'. Inside the subroutine, 'ref' is used to access actual argument specified in call. This
means that the changes made to the parameter will affect the argument used to call the subroutine.
This way of method calling is known as call-by-reference.
9.5 RETURNING OBJECTS
A method can return primitive datatypes or an object.
Example :
class test
{
int a;
test (int i)
{
a = i;
}
test incrbyten( )
{
test temp = new test (a+10);
return temp;
}
mov1
object
rating =PG
ref
aMethod (Movie ref)
ref.setRating (R)
mov1
object
rating =PG
ref
aMethod (Movie ref)
ref.setRating (R)
1

( )
. (" ")

=" "
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}
class Retob
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
test ob1 = new test (2);
test ob2;
ob2 = ob1.incrbyten( );
System.out.println ("ob1.a:" + ob1.a);
System.out.prinln ("ob2.a:" + ob2.a);
}
}
Output : ob1.a:2
ob2.a:12
Each time when incrbyten( ) is invoked, a new object is created, and a reference to it is returned to
the calling routine.
One of the most important uses of object parameters involves the constructor. You may want to
construct a new object so that it is initially the same as the existing object.
class rectangle
{
int width;
int height;
rectangle (int w, int h)
{
width = w;
height = h;
}
rectangle (rectangle r)
{
width = r.width;
height = r.height;
}
}
class ABC
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
Rectangle rect1 = new Rectangle (10, 15);
Rectangle rect2 = new Rectangle (rect1);
}
}
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9.6 RECURSION
Recursion is a process by which a function calls itself repeatedly, until some specific condition
has been satisfied. The process is used for repetitive computations in which each action is stated
in terms of the previous result.
For e.g. to calculate the factorial of a positive integer quantity, the following expression would be
given:
n! =1 2 3 - - - - xn where n is the specified integer. It can also be written as
n! =n (n-1) !
This is a recursive statement of the problem in which the desired action is written in
terms of the previous result.
Now 1! =1 by definition. This provides a stopping condition for recursion.
When a recursive program is executed, the recursive function calls are not executed
immediately. Rather, they are placed on a stack until the condition that terminates the recursion is
encountered.
The function calls are then executed in reverse order as they are "popped" off the stack.
class f
{
int num;
int fact (int n)
{
if (n = = 1)
return (1);
num = n * fact (n-1);
return num;
}
}
class ABC
{
public static void main ( )
{
int Result;
f f1 = new f( );
Result = f1.fact (5);
System.out.println ("Factorial" + Result);
}
}
When fact is called with an argument of 1, the function returns 1; otherwise it returns product of
fact (n-1) n. To evaluate this expression, fact( ) is called with n-1. This process repeats until n
equals 1 and the calls to the method begin returning. When a method calls itself, new local
variables and parameters are allocated storage on the stack and the method code is executed with
these new variables from the start. A recursive call does not create a new copy of the method, only
the arguments are new. As each recursive call returns, the local variables and parameters are
removed from the stack and the execution resumes at the point of the call inside the method.
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The main advantage of recursive methods is that they can be used to create clearer and simpler
versions of algorithms than can their iterative algorithms. Recursive programs may execute little
slowly because of added overhead of the additional function calls. Recursive programs may
cause Stack overrun. You must have an if statement to force the method to return to calling
starting function.
9.7 ACCESS CONTROL / VISIBILITY
How a member can be accessed is determined by access specifier that modifies its declaration.
We have seen that the method and variables of a class are visible everywhere in the program.
However, it may be necessary in some situations to restrict the access to certain variables and
methods from outside the class, e.g. we may not like the objects of a class directly as they alter the
value of a variable or access a method. We can achieve this in J ava by applying visibility / access
modifiers. J ava provides three types of visibility modifiers:
Public
Private
Protected (only when inheritance is involved)
Public Access
Variable or method is visible to the entire class in which it is defined. If we want to make it
visible to all the classes outside this class then the variable or method has to be declared as
public.
public int number;
public void calc( ) { - - - - - }
The main( ) is always preceded by public specifier, because it is called from outside i.e. by the
JVM.
By default access specifier is 'friendly'. The difference between the 'public' access and the
'friendly' access is that the public modifier makes fields visible in all classes, regardless of
their packages while the friendly access makes fields accessible only to classes in the same
package, but not in other packages (a package is a group of related classes stored separately).
Protected Access
Protected modifier makes the field available to all the classes and subclasses in all the
packages. Note that nonsubclasses in other packages cannot access the protected member.
Private Access
Private access provides the highest degree of protection that is accessible only within its
own class, but not in the subclasses.
Private Protected Access
A field can be made visible in all subclasses regardless of what package they are in. These
fields are not accessible by other classes in the same package.
Example :
class access
{
int a; // default access
public int b; // public access
private int c; // private access
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void setc (int i)
{
c = i;
}
int getc ( )
{
return (c);
}
}
class test
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
test ob = new test( );
ob.a = 10 // OK
ob.b = 20 // OK
ob.c = 30 // Error
ob.setc (30); // OK
}
}
Student Activity 2
1. Describe the method of call-by-value.
2. Describe the method of call-by-reference.
3. What is recursion?
4. What is the advantage of recursive methods?
5. Describe various types of visibility modifiers available in J ava.
9.8 UNDERSTANDING STATIC, FINAL
Static Variables and Methods
Instance variables are created every time a new copy of the class is created. They are accessed
using the objects (with dot operator). If we want to define a member that is common to all the
objects and accessed without using a particular object, we use static keyword. Member declared
as static belongs to the class as a whole rather than objects created from the class. Instance
variables declared as static are, essentially, global variables. When objects of its class are declared,
no copy of a static variable is made. Instead, all instances of the class share the same static
variable.
Static variables are used when we want to have a variable, common to all instances of a class. For
e.g. to have a variable that could keep a count of how many objects of a class have been created,
J ava creates only one copy of a static variable. Like static variables, static methods can be called
by using
Classname.method name( );
e.g. :
class Rectangle
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{
static Area (int x, int y)
{
return x * y;
}
}
class ABC
{
public static void main (String args[ ]) )
{
int area = Rectangle. Area (10, 20);
System.out.println ("Area" + area);
}
}
Static methods can only call other static methods. They can only access static data. They cannot
refer to "this" pointer and super keyword because method does not operate on object.
Class variables belong to a class and are declared as static in class definition.
Example :
public class Movie
{
static double minprice;
static int count = 0;
private string title, rating;
Movie ( )
{
minprice = 100.00;
count = count + 1;
}
public void getdata (String t, String r)
{
title = t;
rating = r;
}
public static void main (String args [ ])
{
Movie mov1 = new Movie( );
Movie mov2 = new Movie( );
Movie mov3 = new Movie( );
mov1.getdata ("Gone With the Wind", "PG");
}
}
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Class variables are initialized when the class is loaded. The default values for class variables are;
numbers are set to 0, boolean variables to false, characters are set to '\u40000', and references set
to null class variables can be initialized with non default values at the time of Initialization.
Complex initialization of class variables is performed in a static initialization block. For e.g., if you
need to do computation in order to initialize your static variables, you can declare a static block
which gets executed only once, when the class is first loaded.
Example :
class Staticvar
{
static int a = 3;
static int b;
static void calc (int x)
{
System.out.println ("x =" + x); // x = 40
System.out.println ("a =" + a); // a = 3
System.out.println ("b =" + b); // b = 12
}
static
{
System.out.println ("Static Block");
b = a * 4;
}
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
calc (40);
}
}
Final Variables
A final variable is a named constant which cannot be modified. This means that the final variable
must be initialized. When it is declared, variables declared as final do not occupy memory on a per
instance basis.
final float PIE = 2.73;
Final Classes
You may also declare a class to be final. A final class is one that cannot be inherited from. In fact
by declaring a class as final you are making a strong design decision that the class is complete
enough to meet all its requirement, it means you are preventing the class from being inherited.
Declaring a class as final implicitly declares all its methods as final too.
final class A
{
void show( )
{
System.out.println ("Class A");
}
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}
class B extends A // ERROR ! cannot subclass A
{
void disp( )
{
System.out.println ("Class B");
}
}
Final Method
A final method is one that cannot be overridden in a subclass. If a programmer inherits from the
class, he or she is not allowed to provide an alternative version of this method. This is a useful
technique to prevent programmers from maliciously redefining core methods. To disallow a method
from being overridden, specify final as a modifier at the start of its declaration.
class A
{
final void show( )
{
System.out.println ("This is a final Method");
}
}
class B extends A
{
void show( )
{
// cannot override, compiler gives error
System.out.println ("ERROR");
}
}
9.9 NESTED AND INNER CLASSES
Inner classes are classes which are defined within other classes. These inner classes have the
same scope and access as other variables and methods defined within the same class i.e., the
scope of a nested class is bound by the scope of its enclosing class.
public class PrivateAirport extends Airport
{
String owner;
private Airport (String str){owner = str;}
class PrivateFlight extends Flight
{
string flightowner;
private Flight( ) {flightowner = owner;}
}
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}
Flight getFlight( )
{
return new PrivateFlight( );
}
}
class Airport { Class Flight {
String Airportname; int altitude;
: int speed;
: :
} :
}
There are four types of inner classes:
Static Inner Class
Member Inner Class
Local Inner Class
Anonymous Inner Class
Static inner classes only have access to the static component of the outer class with no access to
instance components directly. The static inner class can access instance components through its
object.
Member inner classes are non static classes. These can access all the components of the outer
class. An instance of the outer class needs to exist to be able to create a new instance of the
member inner class.
public class outer
{
public class inner
{
public void innerMethod( )
{
// 'this' refers to an instance of
// Outer.inner
// 'Outer.this' refer to an instance of outer
// 'super' super class of inner (object)
// 'outer.super' superclass of outer
}
}
}
Member inner classes are compiled to separate class files. In this case, the outer/inner.class is
created.
Local inner classes are declared within the code block of a method. They have access to final
variables only. Local inner classes cannot be declared public, protected, private or static and
cannot have static members.
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Anonymous inner classes are local inner classes with no class name. They are commonly used to
implement user interface adapter to perform event handling. These classes can access local
variables in the method and parameters passed to the method only if they are defined final.
Student Activity 3
1. What are static variables? Describe their usage.
2. What is a static method?
3. What is a final variable?
4. What is a final class?
5. What is a final method?
6. What are inner classes? Name its various types.
9.10 THE STRING CLASS
A string is a sequence of characters. J ava provides String class to manipulate strings, passed as
arguments to methods.
System.out.println ("Hello world");
String str = "Action";
String str = new String ("Anil");
J ava strings are more reliable than 'C' strings because there is lack of bound-checking in C. A J ava
string is not a character array and is not Null terminated.
To get the length of string, use length method of the string class:
int m = str.length( );
Strings can be concatenated with '+' operator:
String FullName = name1 + name2;
System.out.println (Firstname + "Kumar")
String Buffer Class
String creates strings of fixed length while StringBuffer creates strings of flexible length that can
be modified in terms of both length and content. We can insert characters and substrings in the
middle of a string or append another string to the end.
String and StringBuffer classes are discussed in a later chapter in detail.
9.11 COMMAND LINE ARGUMENTS
Command line arguments are parameters that are supplied to the application program at the time
of invoking it for execution. We can write J ava programs that can receive and use the arguments
provided in the command line :
public void static main (String args[ ]) where args is a string object which contains array of
strings. Any argument passed through command line are passed to array args [ ].
Example:
Java Test One Two Three
One args [0]
Two args [1]
Three args [2]
Individual elements can be accessed using an index.
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class Comparetext
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
int count, i = 0;
String string;
count = args.length;
System.out.println ("No of arguments = "+ count);
while (i < count)
{
string = args [i];
i = i+1;
System.out.println (i + "th argument is "+string);
}
}
}
The above program will display all the parameters given from the command line.
Student Activity 4
1. What is a string?
2. Describe the String class available in J ava.
3. What are command line arguments?
9.12 SUMMARY
Several methods in class can have the same name with different signatures.
Most classes provide overloaded constructors to Initialize new objects in different ways.
When a primitive is passed to a method, a copy of the value is generated.
When an object reference is passed to a method, the argument refers to the original object.
A method can return any type of data including class types.
A method which calls itself is said to be recursive.
A variable / method declared as public has the widest possible visibility and is accessible
everywhere.
Private variables are accessible only within their own class.
Every string you create is actually a string object. Object of type string is immutable.
StringBuffer class allows strings to be altered.
Command line arguments are received by J ava program in object of String class, which
contains an array of Strings.
9.13 KEYWORDS
Default constructor : Constructor created by the compiler with no parameters, created if no
constructor is declared in the class.
Recursion : A process by which a function calls itself repeatedly, until some specific condition
has been satisfied.
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Static variables : Used when when we want to have a variable common to all instances of a class.
Final variable : A named constant which cannot be modified.
Final method : A method that cannot be overridden in a subclass.
Inner Class : A class defined within other class.
Command line Arguments : Parameters that are supplied to the application program at the time of
invoking it for execution.
9.14 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Answer the following questions.
1.1 Overloaded methods can have any return type.
a. True
b. False
1.2 The signature of a method consists of
a. type of parameters
b. number of parameters
c. name of the method
d. All of the above
1.3 If a class Aquarium has following two methods
a. public int addfish (Fish f)
b. protected boolean addfish (Fish f[ ])
Which of the following statements is correct ?
a. This technique is called overloading.
b. Compiler will reject the method because return type is different.
c. You cannot have two methods with the same name.
1.4 We can overload methods with differences only in their return type.
a. True
b. False
1.5 State whether the following are true or false:
a. Class must have a constructor written into it.
b. A class can have any number of constructors.
c. The constructor should have a void return type.
d. You can call a constructor from other constructors in the same
class.
e. J ava always provides a default constructor to a class.
1.6 Which keyword can protect a class in a package from accessibility by the classes
outside the package ?
a. Private
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b. Protected
c. Final
d. Do not use any keyword at all.
1.7 To make a member of a class visible in all subclasses regardless of what package they
are in, which one of the following keywords would achieve this?
a. Private
b. Protected
c. Public
d. Private protected
1.8 The use of protected keyword to a member in a class will restrict its visibility as
follows
a. Visible only in the class and its subclass in the same package.
b. Visible only inside the same package.
c. Visible in all classes in the same package and subclasses in other
packages.
d. Visible only in the class where it is declared.
1.9 Class rectangle
{
static final int width = 40;
int height;
public rectangle (int w, int h)
{
width = w;
height = h;
}
}
When we create new object using
Rectangle rect =new Rectangle (50, 50);
What will happen when you compile the program
a. The program compiles and runs fine.
b. Gets Runtime error in line 5.
c. The compiler objects to line 5.
d. The compiler objects to line 6.
1.10 class Rectangle
{
Static private int rc = 0;
public int width;
int height;
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static int addrc( )
{
rc ++;
width = 10;
return rc;
}
public Rectangle( )
{
height = addrc( );
}
}
What happens when you compile the program?
a. A class compiles and each rectangle will get a unique number.
b. The compiler objects to line 9.
c. You cannot store value of rc into height.
1.11 Members of a class specified as private are accessible only to the methods of the
class.
a. True
b. False
1.12 A method declared as static cannot access non-static class members.
a. True
b. False
1.13 A static class method can be invoked by simply using the name of the method alone.
a. True
b. False
1.14 Every method of a final class is implicitly final.
a. True
b. False
1.15 Why would a responsible programmer want to use a nested class ?
a. To impress the boss with his/her knowledge of J ava by using nested
classes.
b. To keep the code for a very specialized class in close association
with the class it works with.
c. To support a new user interface that generates custom events.
1.16 When programming a local inner class inside a method code block, which of the
following statements is true?
a. The inner class will have only access to static variables in the
enclosing class.
b. The inner class can use any variables declared in the method.
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c. The inner class can use only local variables that are declared final.
d. The inner class can use only local variables that are declared static.
2. Design a class to represent an employee. Include the following members
Employee Number
Name
Address
Ph No.
Department
JDT
Use overloaded constructors to
a. provide initial values to Name, employee Number, Address and Ph No.
b. to give initial values to all fields except Department
Write method to assign department to the employee. Find out total number of employee
objects created in the program. Display the data of all the employees.
3. Design a class to represent a bank account. It includes the following members
Data members
Account Number
Name
Type of Account
Balance amount
Methods
To give initial values for type of account and balance
To deposit an amount
To withdraw an amount
To display name and balance
Initial value for Account Number and Name has to be taken from command line.
9.15 FURTHER READINGS
E. Balaguruswami, Programming with Java, Tata McGraw-Hill.
Davis, Stephen R., Learn Java Now, Microsoft Press.
Naughton, Patrick, The Java Hand Book, OSborne McGraw- Hill.
Sams.net, J ava unleased.
Herbert Schildt, The Complete Reference Java 2, Tata McGraw-Hill.0
UNIT
10
INHERITANCE
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Define inheritance
Define subclass
Describe member access and inheritance
Describe super class variable and sub class object
Describe the usage of super to call superclass constructors
Describe multilevel hierarchy
Describe how to call constructor
Describe method overriding
Describe abstract classes methods
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Inheritance Basics
10.3 Member Access and Inheritance
10.4 Super Class Variable and Sub Class Object
10.5 Using Super to Call Superclass Constructors
10.6 Another Use of Super
10.7 Multilevel Hierarchy
10.8 Calling Constructor
10.9 Overriding Methods
10.10 Abstract Classes Method
10.11 Final and Inheritance
10.12 Object Class
10.13 Summary
10.14 Keywords
10.15 Review Questions
10.16 Further Readings
10.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous unit you learnt about adding methods to the class and writing methods with/
without parameters. You also studied the concept of recursion, meaning and uses of access
control, static and final keywords. The concept of overloading was also discussed in the previous
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unit. In this unit you will be able to extend the concept of overloading in inheritance. In the
previous unit you have studied the definition of public and private in detail. In this unit you will
be able to appreciate the meaning and usage of protected modifier in detail. You will also be able
to use super keyword to refer to the constructor, method or variable of the superclass. Finally,
you will learn about the Object class.
10.2 INHERITANCE BASICS
Reusability is one of the important aspect of the OOP paradigm. J ava supports the concept of
reusing the code that already exists. Inheritance allows the creation of hierarchical classifications.
Using inheritance, you can create a general class that defines traits common to a set of related
items. This class can then be inherited by other, more specific classes each adding those things
that are unique to it. A class that is inherited is called superclass. The class that does the
inheriting is called a subclass.
What is Inheritance
Inheritance defines a relationship between classes where one class shares the data structure and
behaviours of another class. It enables software reuse by allowing you to create a new class
based on the properties of an existing class. As a result, the developer is able to achieve greater
productivity in a short time. The mechanism of deriving a new class from an old one is called
inheritance. Inheritance may take different forms:
1. Single Inheritance 2. Multiple Inheritance (interfaces)
3. Hierarchical Inheritance 4. Multilevel Inheritance
Defining Subclass
class subclassname extends superclassname
{
variable declarations;
method declarations;
}
The subclass now contains its own variables and methods as well as those of the superclass.
A
B
A
B
A B
C
A B
C
A
B C D
A
B C D
A B
C
D
A B
C
D
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class employee
{
int empno;
String name;
String address;
employee (int eno, String ename, String addr)
{
empno = eno;
name = ename;
address = addr;
}
disp( )
{
System.out.println ("eno" + empno + "name" + name);
}
}
class worker extends employee
{
int hrsworked;
worker (int eno, String ename,
String addr, int hr)
{
super (eno, ename, addr);
hrsworked = hr;
}
}
class Test
{
public static void main(String args[ ])
{
worker W1 = new worker (1, "ABC", "XYZ", 5);
W1.disp( );
}
}
The employee class defines the attributes and methods that are relevant for all kinds of worker's
details. Attributes such as empno, name and address. Methods such as disp( ) to display
employee
empno
name
address
disp( )
employee( )
hrsworked
worker( )
Worker
Object of Worker class will
have all the above variables
and methods
employee
empno
name
address
disp( )
employee( )
hrsworked
worker( )
Worker
Object of Worker class will
have all the above variables
and methods
employee
Worker
employee
Worker
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0employee's empno and name. You might need to represent a specific type of employee in a
particular way. You can use inheritance to define a separate subclass of employee for each
different type of employee. For example you might define manager, engineer, scientist etc.
Each subclass automatically inherits the attributes and methods of employee, but can provide
additional attributes and methods. Attributes such as number of projects, type of project, duration
of project, status can be stored in scientist class. Methods such as reviewing the project progress,
setting the current status can be added in the scientist subclass. Subclass can also override a
method from the superclass if they want to provide more specialized behaviour for the method. If
the subclass method has the same name, parameter list and return type as a superclass method,
then you can say that the subclass method overrides the superclass method.
10.3 MEMBER ACCESS AND INHERITANCE
A subclass includes all of the members of its superclass; it cannot access those members of the
superclass that have been declared as private. When you create an object, you can call any of its
public methods plus any public methods declared in its super class.
class A
{
int i;
private int j ;
void getdata (int x, iny y)
{
i = x;
j = y;
}
}
class B extends A
{
int total;
void sum( )
{
total = i + j;
}
}
class AB
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
B Sub0b = new B( );
Sub0b.getdata (10, 12);
Sub0b.sum( );
System.out.println ("Total" + Sub0b.total);
}
}
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Inheritance The program will not compile because the reference to j inside the sum( ) method of B causes an
access violation. Subclass has no access to j. A class member that has been declared as private
will remain private to its class; it is not accessible by any code outside its class, including
subclasses.
10.4 SUPER CLASS VARIABLE AND SUB CLASS OBJECT
A reference variable of a superclass can be assigned a reference to any subclass derived from that
superclass.
class Box
{
double w;
double h;
double d;
Box (Box 0b)
{
w = 0b.w;
h = 0b h;
d = 0b.d;
}
Box (double x, double y, double z)
{
w = x;
h = y;
d = z;
}
double volume( )
{
return w * h * d;
}
}
class BoxWeight extends Box
{
double weight;
BoxWeight (double x, double y, double z, double r)
{
w = x;
h = y;
d = z;
weight = r;
}
}
class RefDemo
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{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
BoxWeight weightbox = new BoxWeight (3,5,7,8.37);
Box plainbox = new Box( );
double vol;
vol = weightbox.volume( );
System.out.println ("Volume =" + vol);
plainbox = weightbox;
vol = plainbox. volume( );
System.out.println ("Volume of plainBox is" + vol);
System.out.println ("Weight of plainBox is" +
plainbox.weight);
}
}
Since BoxWeight is a subclass of Box, it is permissible to assign plainbox a reference to the weight
box object. When a reference to a subclass object is assigned to a superclass reference variable,
you will have access only to those parts of the object defined by superclass. Plainbox can't
access weight, even when it refers to a BoxWeight object, because superclass has no knowledge
of what a subclass adds to.
10.5 USING SUPER TO CALL SUPERCLASS
CONSTRUCTORS
Super has two general forms. The first calls the superclass constructor. The second is used to
access a member of the superclass that has been hidden by a member of a subclass
Super (parameter-list);
Super membername;
A subclass constructor is used to construct the instance variables of both the subclass and the
super class. The super keyword invokes the constructor method of the super class. Super may
only be used within a subclass constructor method as the first statement. The parameter in the
super call must match the order/type of the instance variable declared in the superclass.
class Box
{
double w;
double h;
double d;
Box (double x, double y, double z)
{
w = x;
h = y;
d = z;
}
}
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class BoxWeight extends Box
{
double weight;
BoxWeight (double x, double y, double z, double m)
{
super (x, y, z);
weight = m;
}
}
class demoSuper
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
BoxWeight mybox1 = new BoxWeight(10, 20, 15, 34.3);
System.out.println ("Weight of mybox1 is =
"+mybox1.weight);
}
}
When a subclass calls super( ), it is calling the constructor of its immediate superclass. Call to
super( ) avoids duplicating the code in subclass but it implies that subclass must be granted
access to these members. However, in some cases we would like to keep the variable private to
itself. Access to these private variables of the superclass can be achieved by the keyword super.
10.6 ANOTHER USE OF SUPER
The second form of super always refers to the superclass of the subclass in which it is used. It is
most applicable to the situation in which member names of a subclass hide members by the same
name in the superclass.
Example:
class A
{
int i;
}
class B extends A
{
int i;
B (int a, int b)
{
super.i = a; // i in A
i = b; // i in B
}
}
class demosuper
{
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public static void main (String args[ ])
{
B b1 = new B(1, 2);
}
}
In the above example, class A and class B both have instance variable called i. Class B will also
inherit superclass version of variable i. To refer to superclass version of variable i, use super.i.
10.7 MULTILEVEL HIERARCHY
In multilevel hierarchy, each subclass inherits all of the traits found in all of its superclasses. It is
perfectly acceptable to use a subclass as superclass of another.
class Box
{
private double width;
private double height;
private double depth;
Box (double w, double h, double d)
{
width = w;
height = h;
depth = d;
}
double volume( )
{
return (width * height * depth);
}
}
class BoxWeight extends Box
{
double weight;
BoxWeight (double w, double h, double d, double m)
{
super (w, h, d);
weight = m;
}
}
class shipment extends BoxWeight
{
double cost;
Shipment(double w, double h, double d, double m, double c)
{
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super (w, h, d, m);
cost = c;
}
class DemoShipment
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
Shipment Shipment1 =
new Shipment (10, 20, 15, 10, 3.41);
double vol;
vol = shipment1.volume( );
System.out.prinln ("Volume =" + vol);
System.out.println ("Weight" + Shipment1.weight);
System.out.println("ShippingCost"+,Shipment1.cost);
}
}
Because of inheritance, shipment can make use of previously defined classes of Box, BoxWeight,
adding only the extra information it needs for its own specific application. Hence, inheritance
allows reuse of code.
In the above example, subclass BoxWeight is used as a superclass to create the subclass called
Shipment. Shipment inherits all of the traits of BoxWeight and Box and adds a variable called cost.
10.8 CALLING CONSTRUCTOR
J ava compiler does a lot of extra work in compiling constructor code. If the first line of the code
body doesn't have super( ) constructor, the compiler inserts "super( )", an invocation of the
default constructor that takes no parameters belonging to parent class.
In a class hierarchy, constructors are called in order of derivation, from superclass to subclass.
For example:
class A
{
A( )
{
System.out.println ("Inside A's constructor");
}
}
class B extends A
{
B( )
{
System.out.println ("Inside B's constructor");
}
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}
class C extends B
{
C( )
{
System.out.println ("Inside C's constructor");
}
}
class democonstructor
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
C c1 = new C( );
}
}
Output : Inside A's constructor
Inside B's constructor
Inside C's constructor
A class can have any number of constructors as long as they have different signatures. One
constructor can invoke another but the statement has to be the first one in code body. Constructors
are not inherited, so each derived class must specially implement any constructors it needs.
However, derived class can make use of its parent class constructor using the super keyword.
For example
public class employee
{
int empno;
String name;
String address;
employee (int e, String n, String a)
{
empno = e;
name = n;
address = a;
}
}
class worker extends employee
{
int noofhrs
worker (int c, String n, String a, int h)
{
super (e, n, a); // calls superclass constructor
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noofhrs = h;
}
}
Points to remember
Super may only be used in subclass.
The call to superclass constructor must appear as the first statement in the subclass.
The parameter in the super( ) must match the order and type of superclass constructor.
If you don't define any constructor in the class code, the compiler will provide a default
constructor that takes no parameter.
Student Activity 1
1. What is Inheritance?
2. How will you define a sub class?
3. What is the use of super?
4. Which members are accessible by a subclass?
5. Write the precautions to be taken while calling a constructor.
10.9 OVERRIDING METHODS
I0nheritance enables us to define and use methods repeatedly in subclasses without having to
define the methods again in subclass because subclass inherits all of the methods of its superclass.
However, a subclass can modify the behaviour of a method in a superclass by overriding it. To
override a superclass method, the subclass defines a method with exactly the same signature and
return type as a method somewhere above it in the hierarchy. Then, when the method is called, the
method defined in the subclass is invoked and executed instead of the one in super class. This is
known as overriding. In the previous example we change worker class as follows:
class worker extends employee
{
int hrsworked;
worker (int eno, String ename, String addr, int hr)
{
super (eno, ename, addr);
hrsworked = hr;
}
disp( )
{
System.out.println ("eno" + eno + "name" + name);
System.out.println ("ename"+ename+"hrsWorked"+hrsworked);
}
The method in the subclass effectively hides the superclass method. Now, when disp( )method is
called for, the worker object method defined in the worker object will be invoked rather than the
one defined in the employee class. Further, in the above example we do not need to repeat the
code which already exists in the parent class. We can modify disp( ) method of worker class as
follows:
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disp( )
{
super.disp( );
system.out.println ("HrsWorked" + hrsworked);
}
Note that the super notation can be used to execute a method in the immediate superclass.
There are certain restrictions on overriding methods:
Access Modifier An overriding method cannot be made more private than the method in
the parent class.
Return Type The return type must be the same as in the parent class method.
Exception Thrown Any exception declared must be of the same class as that thrown by
the parent class or of a subclass of that exception (will be discussed in later chapter).
Methods that are declared final cannot be overriden. Methods that are declared private
cannot be seen outside the class and therefore, cannot be overriden. However, because the
private method name cannot be seen, you can reuse the method name in the subclass, but
then this is not the same as overriding.
Difference Between Overloading and Overriding
The terms overloading and overriding are applied to situations in which you have multiple J ava
methods with the same name. Within a particular class, you can have more than one method with
the same name as long as they differ in number, type and order of the input parameters. This is
described as overloading. For J ava, these are two different methods. The duplicate names are just
for the convenience of the programmer. Compiler will not allow methods with same signature but
with different return type, even if one method is declared in parent class and the other in the
subclass.
If a subclass method has the same name, parameter list and return type as superclass method, you
say that the subclass method overrides the superclass method.
Overloaded methods are resolved at compile time, based on the arguments you supply. Overriden
methods are resolved at run time.
Now consider the following code:
worker w1 = new worker ( )
employee e = w1;
w1.disp( ) // which method is called
Casting w1 to employee reference does not change the object type. Because the J VM resolved
method calls at runtime using the actual object, the worker version disp( ) method is executed.
10.10 ABSTRACT CLASSES METHOD
An abstract class is simply a class which cannot be instantiated. For example , employeeClass
does not provide sufficient details to provide anything meaningful about the employee. It must
either be a worker, manager, staff or employee on deputation. Only its nonabstract superclasses
may be instantiated. If you try to instantiate abstract class, compiler flags an error.
An abstract method defined within an abstract class must be implemented by all of its subclasses.
This technique allows the class designer to decide exactly what behaviours a subclass must be
able to perform. J ava provides abstract keyword, which indicates that a class or a method is
abstract.
abstract class employee
{
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int empno;
String name;
abstract void getdata( );
abstract void displaydata( );
}
When you declare abstract method you just provide the signature for the method which comprises
of its name, its argument list and its return type. You do not provide body for it.
NOTE We cannot declare abstract constructor or abstract static method.
Any class with abstract method must also be declared as abstract. This is done so that all classes
extending the abstract class and overriding the abstract method are compatible.
Abstract classes can contain methods that are not declared as abstract. Those methods can be
overriden by the subclasses, but it is not mandatory.
In the above class employee, we create a subclass called worker and we do not override the
getdata( ) method which is declared abstract in the super class. If user calls workerobj.getdata( ),
it calls the method available in the super class and that is not the desired method. Hence, the
solution could be to declare the method as abstract in the superclass and override it in the
subclass.
10.11 FINAL AND INHERITANCE
All methods and variables can be overridden by default in the subclass. If we wish to prevent the
subclass from overriding the members of the superclass, we can declare them as final using the
keyword final. Many of the methods in java.net classes are final.
final int basic = 7000;
final void disp( ) { - - - - - - - - - - }
If a method is performing some vital operation, such as authorization checking, it should be
declared final to prevent anyone from overriding the method and changing your security checks.
Sometimes, we may like to prevent a class being further inherited for security reasons. A class that
cannot be subclassed is called a final class.
final class worker { }
Any attempt to inherit these classes will cause an error and compiler will not allow it. If you
declare a class as final, it can never be extended by any other class. The Color class in java.awt is
declared final. Final Classes and final Methods produce more efficient compiled code. If the
compiler encounters an object reference to final class and you call a method using that object
reference, the compiler does not perform run time method binding. Instead, the compiler can
perform static binding and avoid the overhead of run-time polymorphism. Similarly, if you call a
final method anywhere in your program, the compiler can call that method statically.
10.12 OBJECT CLASS
Object class is the base class for all J ava objects. All classes in J ava are automatically inherited
from the root class called Object, which sits at the top of the inheritance tree. If a class does not
specify an explicit superclass, as in the case with employee class (previous example), then the
class is deemed to extend directly from 'Object', as if it were defined as follows :
public class employee extends Object
{
}
Here is a summary of the Object class methods.
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clone : Creates a new object by copying the current one and returns the
reference which has to be typecasted to the particular type of object
being cloned.
equals : Compares an object to this one. It returns true if the two references
point to the same object.
finalize : For garbage collection related methods.
toString : Returns a string representing the object. For classes that don't override
the toString method, the String produced by toString method will be
name of the Class@object's HashCodeValue.
Other methods in Object class are:
getclass
notify
notifyall
wait
getclass( ) method returns the class object used to create the object. Other methods will be
discussed later.
Student Activity 2
1. What do you mean by overriding?
2. How will you override methods?
3. Differentiate between overloading and overriding.
4. What is an abstract method?
5. What is the use of final keyword?
6. Describe the methods available in an object class.
10.13 SUMMARY
A subclass inherits all the variables and its methods in its superclass.
You can specify additional variables, methods and override methods.
J ava supports single inheritance, hierarchical inheritance, multilevel inheritance.
It supports multiple inheritance using interfaces.
Member access can be controlled by public, private and protected keywords in subclass.
Super is used to call superclass constructor, superclass method and to use superclass
variables if the variable names are common in the child class and its superclass.
Two methods with the same signature in a class are known as overloaded methods.
Two methods with the same signature and also the same return type written one in child
class and other in parent class is known as overriden methods.
An abstract class cannot be instantiated.
A class that cannot be subclassed is called a final class.
Object class is the base class of all J ava objects.
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10.14 KEYWORDS
Inheritance : A relationship between classes where one class shares the data structure and
behaviors of another class.
Abstract Class : A class that cannot be instantiated.
Object Class : The base class of all J ava objects.
Final Class : A class that cannot be subclassed.
10.15 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Find out the errors in the following code, if any.
Class A
{
int type;
A (int t)
{
type = t;
}
Class B extends A
{
String x = " ";
}
2. What is a constructor ? What are its special properties and how do we invoke it?
3. It is an error to have a method with the same signature in both superclass and its subclass.
True/False.
4. Constructor must always invoke its superclass constructor in its first statement. True/
False.
5. It is perfectly legal to assign a subclass object to a superclass reference. True/False.
6. Every method of a final class is implicitly final. True/False.
7. Which of the following are legal statements to construct A type object ?
a. A a =new A( );
b. A a =new A (4, 2, 7)
c. A a =new A (5, 6)
d. A a =new A (10);
e. A a =new A (Base (4, 5), 6)
8. Which of the following are overloading the method int sum (int x, int y) {}
a. int sum (int x, int y, int z) { }
b. float sum (int x, int y) { }
c. int sum (float x, float y) { }
d. int sum (int a, int b) { }
e. float sum (int x, int y, float z) { }
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9. Consider the following code
Class A
{
public static static void main (String args
[ ] )
{
class B b = new classB( );
}
A (int x) { }
}
class classB extends A
{
}
What will happen when we compile and run this code?
a. Compile and run successfully.
b. error : class A does not define no argument constructor.
c. error : Class B does not define no argument constructor.
d. error : There is no code in class B.
e. error : There is no code in constructor of class A(int x).
10. When do we declare a method or class final ?
11. When do we declare a method or class abstract ?
12. An organization wishes to maintain a database of its employees. The database is divided
into a number of classes whose hierarchical relationship is shown in the figure along with
the minimum required information for each class.
Write a program to store data and retrieve individual information as and when required.
employee
empcode
name
address
Engineer
basic
S/W or H/W
Scientist
Subject
publication
No of project
Type of project
Worker
MachineType
regular
basic
dailywage
wages
employee
empcode
name
address
Engineer
basic
S/W or H/W
Scientist
Subject
publication
No of project
Type of project
Worker
MachineType
regular
basic
dailywage
wages
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Inheritance 13. In J ava, System.out.println is used to display data on the print stream.
In System.out.println
"System" is a predefined class. "Out" is object of printStream Class, and "println" is the
method of printStream class.
Simulate System.out.println in your program such that if you invoke S.O.disp( int) it should
be able to print the data on the screen.
10.16 FURTHER READINGS
Vangalur S. Alagar, R. Missaoui ; Object Oriented Technology for Database and Software System ;
1995, World Scientific.
Herbert Schildt ; Java: The Complete Reference, J2SE TM ; 2005, Mc Graw-Hill Professional.
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11
INTERFACES AND PACKAGES
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe interface
Understand the implementation and application of interface
Understand how to extend interfaces
Describe a package
Describe the benefits of a package
Understand how to create packages
Describe class path variables
Describe some of the important packages.
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Defining Interface
11.3 What is a Package
11.4 Classpath Variable
11.5 Access Protection
11.6 Important Packages
11.7 Summary
11.8 Keywords
11.9 Review Questions
11.10 Further Readings
11.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous unit, we studied the concept of inheritance and also explored various forms of
inheritance. We cannot do multiple inheritance in J ava because we cannot create a subclass by
extending more than one superclass. This way of multiple inheritance adds to the complexity in
the program. Hence, it is not permitted in J ava.
To achieve multiple inheritance in Java, we can implement multiple interfaces to create subclasses.
At the end of this unit you should be able to use interfaces. One of the main features of OOP is its
ability to reuse the code by extending the classes and implementing interfaces. If we need to
reuse the classes from other programs without copying them, we use packages. We will study
user defined packages and J ava API packages. We will also study visibility and access control of
different class members in relation to the packages.
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11.2 DEFINING INTERFACE
An interface is like a fully abstract class, except that it cannot have any concrete method or
instance variables. It is a collection of abstract method declarations and constants, that is, static
final variables. This means that interfaces do not specify any code to implement these methods.
Any class that implements an interface must implement all of the methods specified in that
interface. A class can implement many interfaces but can extend only one class. The general
syntax for defining interface is:
interface InterfaceName
{
variable declaration;
method declaration;
}
Here interface is a keyword and interfaceName is any valid J ava variable.
Example: interface Item
{
static final int code = 1001;
static final String name = "fan";
void display ( );
}
Variables are declared as constants using static final keywords. Note that the code for display ( )
is not included in the interface. The class that implements this interface must define the code for
the method.
Implementation and Application
Interfaces are used as "superclasses" whose properties are inherited by classes. It is, therefore,
necessary to create a class that inherits the given interface.
class classname extends superclass
implements interface1, interface2, - - - -
{
}
Class can extend another class while implementing interfaces.
Example:
interface Area
{
final static float pi = 3.14F
float compute (float x, float y);
}
class Rectangle implements Area
{
public float compute (float x, float y)
{
return (x * y);
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}
}
class Circle implements Area
{
public float compute (float x, float y)
{
return (pi * x * x);
}
}
class InterfaceTest
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
Rectangle rect = new Rectangle ( );
Circle cir = new Circle ( );
Area area; // interface object
area = rect;
System.out.println (area.compute(10, 20));
area = cir;
System.out.println ("Area of Circle" +
area.compute(10,0));
}
}
As you can see, the version of compute( ) that is called is determined by the type of object that
area refers to at runtime. Note that if a class that implements an interface does not implement all
the methods of the interface, then the class becomes an abstract class and cannot be instantiated.
When you implement an interface method, it must be declared as public.
Variables in Interfaces
Interface can be used to declare a set of constants that can be used in different classes. The
constant values will be available to any class that implements the interface.
class Students
{
int rollNumber;
void getNumber (int n)
{
rollNumber = n;
}
void putNumber( )
{
System.out.println ("RollNo." + rollNumber);
}
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}
class Test extends Students
{
float part1, part2;
void getMarks (float m1, float m2)
{
part1 = m1;
part2 = m2;
}
void putMarks ( )
{
System.out.println ("Marks obtained");
System.out.println (part1);
System.out.println (part2);
}
}
interface sports
{
float sport wt = 6.0
void putwt ( );
}
class Results extends Test implements sports
{
float total;
public void putwt ( )
{
System.out.println ("sports wt = "+ sportwt);
}
void display ( )
{
total = part1 + part + sportwt;
putNumber( );
putMarks( );
putwt( );
System.out.println ("Total score"+ total);
}
}
class ABC
{
public static void main (String args[ ]))
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{
Results stud1 = new Results ( );
stud1.getNumber (1, 2, 3, 4);
stud1.getMarks (27.5, 33.0);
stud1.display ( );
}
}
In the above example, the class "Results" implements "Sports" interface. The calculation of total
marks for object of "Results" class includes sports weightage also.
NOTE All methods specified in an interface are implicitly public and abstract. Any
variable specified in an interface is implicitly public, static and final.
Extending Interfaces
Like classes, interfaces can also be extended. The new subinterface will inherit all the members of
the super interface in the manner similar to subclasses.
interface ItemConstants
{
int code = 1000;
String name = "Fan";
}
interface Item extends ItemConstants
{
void display ( );
}
While interfaces are allowed to extend to other interfaces, subinterfaces cannot define the method
declared in the super interfaces. Instead, it is the responsibility of any class that implements the
derived interface to define all the methods.
Interfaces can have access modifiers of public or blank, just like classes. An interface can be
defined as extending another interface, similar to class hierarchy, but there is no base interface
analogous to the Object class.
Another Example:
Sort is a classic example of the use of an interface. Many completely unrelated classes may use a
sort. A sort is a well defined process that does not need to be written repeatedly.
The "Sortable" interface in the example specifies the methods required to make the sort work on
each type of object that needs to be sorted. Only the class needs to know its object comparison
or sorting rules.
Suppose there is a need to sort employee class database on the basis of empno. Employee class
will be created by the organization which knows everything about the employee. Classes required
to do sorting can be created by a separate developer who knows about sorting algorithm and
nothing about employee class. Thus, example may use a sortable interface which declares one
method i.e., compare( ). This method must be implemented by any class that wants to use the sort
class methods. Sort class is an abstract class that contains sortObject methods to sort an array of
objects. sortObject( ) calls compare( ) method on the objects in the array. Sortapp represents any
application containing main that needs to sort list of employees.
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Sortapp Sends an array of
employee objects to Sort.sortObject( )
Sort.sortObject( )
4 1 step
employee1.compare( )
3 2
sortObject( ) returns the
sorted list
Output of comparison
returns to calling method.
Sortapp Sends an array of
employee objects to Sort.sortObject( )
Sort.sortObject( )
4 1 step
employee1.compare( )
3 2
sortObject( ) returns the
sorted list
Output of comparison
returns to calling method.
The same method can be used to sort the department objects. (Implement this inLab)
Student Activity 1
1. What is interface?
2. Give an example showing the implementation and application of interface.
3. How will you extend an interface?
4. Give any one classic example of interface.
11.3 WHAT IS A PACKAGE
One way of reusing the code is by extending classes and implementing the interfaces. But this is
limited to reusing the classes within a program. If we need to use classes from some other
programs without physically copying them into the program under consideration, we use
packages. Packages act as containers for grouping logically related classes and interfaces.
Benefits of Packages
1. Classes contained in packages of other programs can be easily reused.
2. Two classes in two different packages can have the same name. They can be uniquely
identified by packagename.classname.
3. Packages also provide a way for separating "design" from "coding".
4. You can define classes inside a package that are not accessible by code outside that
package. You can also define class members that are only exposed to other members of the
same package.
In practical applications, we may have to build our own classes and use existing class libraries for
designing user interfaces. J ava packages are classified into two types:
J ava API package
User defined packages
Using J ava API packages
J ava
awt
Color
Font
Image
:
:
J ava
awt
Color
Font
Image
:
:
PackageContaining awt package
PackageContaining Classes
ClassContaining Methods
java.awt.color
J ava
awt
Color
Font
Image
:
:
J ava
awt
Color
Font
Image
:
:
PackageContaining awt package
PackageContaining Classes
ClassContaining Methods
java.awt.color
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If we want to refer to color class in awt package once in our program, we can do so by
java.awt.color
But when we want to use the same class at many places or we want to use many classes from the
same package we can use
import packagename.classname;
or
import packagename.*;
The second statement imports every class contained in specified package. Packages can be
named using the standard J ava naming rules.
java.awt.Point pts [ ];
This statement declares an array of Point type objects using the fully qualified class name.
Creating Packages
To create a package, simply include a package command as the first statement in a J ava source
file. Any class declared within that file will belong to the specified package. If you omit the
package statement, the class names are put into a default package which has no name.
package first_package;
public class firstclass
{
}
The file should be stored as firstclass.java and should be located in a directory named
first_package. The compiled class file should also be stored in the directory that has the same
name as the package. J ava also supports the concept of package hierarchy. This is done by
specifying multiple names in a package statement, separated by dots package
firstpackage.secondPackage;
Store this package in a subdirectory named
first_package\secondPackage.
There is no practical limit on the depth of a package hierarchy except that which is imposed by file
system. A J ava package file can have more than one class definition. In such cases, only one of
the classes may be declared as public and that class name with .J ava extension is the source file
name. More than one file can include the same package statement. The package statement simply
specifies to which package the classes defined in a file belong. Most real world packages are
spread across many files.
A simple example :
Package firstpack;
class Acct
{
String Name;
int AcctNo;
float Balance;
Acct (String, int A, Float Bal)
{
name = n;
AcctNo = A;
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Balance = Bal;
}
void disp( )
{
if (Balance < 0 )
System.out.println ("Warning");
System.out.println ("name" + "Rs" + Balance);
}
}
class AccBalance
{
public static void main (String args[ ] )
{
Acct currentAcct [ ] = new Acct [3];
currentAcct [0] = new Act ("Anil", 1, 10000);
current Acct [1] = new Acct ("Sunil", 2, 5000);
currentAcct [2] = new Acct ("Abhinav", 3, 11000);
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
currentAcct [i].disp( );
}
}
Store this file with the name AccBalance.java in a directory called firstpack. AccBalance.class
should also be stored in the same directory. You can execute this program by giving following at
the command line.
java firstpack.AccBalance
You need to set the appropriate classpath using set classpath command on the command line.
Importing Classes From Other Packages
Packages are a good mechanism for compartmentalizing diverse classes from each other. All of
the standard classes are stored in some named packages. Classes within packages must be fully
qualified with their package name or names with the dot operator. It would be tedious to type in
the class name with long dot separated package. By importing a package, a class can be referred
to directly, using only its name. In a J ava source file, import statements occur immediately following
the package statement and before any class definition.
Example:
import java.util.*;
class Mydate extends Date { }
OR
class Mydate extends java.util.Date.
The general syntax would be
import pkg1[.pkg2]. (classname/*);
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All of the standard J ava classes included with J ava are stored in a package called java. The basic
language functions are stored in package inside of the java package called java.lang.
Given below are two packages.
package pack1;
public class Teacher
{ - - - - }
public class student
{- - - - }
package pack2;
public class Courses
{- - - - - }
public class student
{- - - - - -}
import pack1.*;
import pack2.*;
pack1.student stud1; // OK
pack2.student stud2; // OK
Teacher teacher1; // OK
Courses course1; // OK
Subclassing an Imported Class
import package2.classB; // Only ClassB from package2 will be imported
class classC extends classB
{
int n = 20,
void displayC( )
{
System.out.println ("class C");
System.out.println ("m = "+m);
System.out.println ("n = "+ n);
}
}
class ABC
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
classC objc = new classC( );
objc.displayC( );
}
}
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Interfaces and Packages Note that the variables m, n have been declared as protected in classB. It would not have been
possible if it had been declared as either private or default.
11.4 CLASSPATH VARIABLE
Every package must be mapped to a subdirectory of the same name in the file system. Nested
packages will be reflected as a hierarchy of directories in the file system. For e.g. classfiles of
java.awt.image must be stored under the directory java\awt\image.
You can put package directories anywhere in the file system. In addition, you can place whole
directory structure of class files within .zip or .jar files. In order to tell the J ava compiler where to
locate the packages, you must set the CLASSPATH environment variable because the specific
location that the J ava compiler will consider as the root of any package hierarchy, is controlled by
CLASSPATH.
SET CLASSPATH = .;\ABC\myclass.jar
When any class reference is encountered, the directory list is searched from start to end. The
J VM also checks for .jar or .zip entities in the CLASSPATH entries.
11.5 ACCESS PROTECTION
While using packages and inheritance in a program, we should take care of the visibility restrictions
imposed by access protection modifiers. The access modifiers are private, public, protected. The
least restrictive access modifier is public. Variables and methods declared as public may be seen
and used by any other class.
If an access modifier is not specified (default), the variables and methods may be used by any
other class within the same package. The next access modifier is protected. These variables can
be seen from any subclass of that class. It may also be seen from any class within the package in
which it exists.
The most restrictive access modifier is private. A private method or variable may not be accessed
by any other class.
Access
Modifier
Access
Location
Public Protected Friendly Private Private
Same Class Y Y Y Y Y
Sub Class in
Same Pack
Y Y Y Y N
Other Classes in
Same Pack
Y Y Y N N
Sub Class in
Other Pack
Y Y N Y N
NonSub Class in
other package
Y N N N N
Access
Modifier
Access
Location
Public Protected Friendly Private Private
Same Class Y Y Y Y Y
Sub Class in
Same Package
Y Y Y Y N
Other Classes in
Same Package
Y Y Y N N
Sub Class in
Other Package
Y Y N N
NonSub Class in
other package
Y N N N
Protected
Access
Modifier
Access
Location
Public Protected Friendly Private Private
Same Class Y Y Y Y Y
Sub Class in
Same Pack
Y Y Y Y N
Other Classes in
Same Pack
Y Y Y N N
Sub Class in
Other Pack
Y Y N Y N
NonSub Class in
other package
Y N N N N
Access
Modifier
Access
Location
Public Protected Friendly Private Private
Same Class Y Y Y Y Y
Sub Class in
Same Package
Y Y Y Y N
Other Classes in
Same Package
Y Y Y N N
Sub Class in
Other Package
Y Y N N
NonSub Class in
other package
Y N N N
Protected
11.6 IMPORTANT PACKAGES
a. java.lang : They include classes for primitive types, strings, math functions,
threads and exceptions.
b. java.util : Language utility classes such as vectors, hash tables, random
numbers, date etc.
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c. java.io : They provide facility for the input and output of data.
d. java.awt : Include classes for windows, buttons, lists, menus and so on.
e. java.net : Include classes for communicating with local computers as well as
with Internet server.
f. java.applet : Classes for creating applets.
g. java.sql : Classes for sending SQL statements to relational databases.
g. java.math : Classes for extended precision arithmetic.
Student Activity 2
1. What is a package?
2. What are the bene3fits of packages?
3. Name various types of J ava packages.
4. How can a package be created?
5. Can a class be imported from other package? If Yes, How?
6. What are classpath variables?
7. List any five important packages.
11.7 SUMMARY
An interface is a collection of abstract methods and final variables to be implemented in
subclasses.
A class can implement many interfaces.
Implementing more that one interface is equivalent to multiple inheritance.
J ava has several levels of hierarchy for code organization, the highest of which is the
package.
J ava packages can be accessed either using a fully qualified class name or using import
statement. General syntax for import is
import pack1[.pack2] [.pack3]. class/*;
A class stored in the package is executed using
java packname.classname.
The access specifiers private, public and protected provide different categories of
visibility for class members.
11.8 KEYWORDS
Interface : A collection of abstract methods and final variables to be implemented in subclasses.
Packages : A container for grouping logically related classes and interfaces.
11.9 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. How do we design a package? How do we add classes or interfaces to a package? How do
we execute a class stored in a package ?
2. Any class may be inherited by another class in the same package. True / False.
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Interfaces and Packages 3. Members of a class specified as private are accessible only to the methods of the class.
True / False.
4. Which keyword can protect a class in a package from accessibility by the classes outside
the package ?
a. Private
b. Protected
c. Final
d. Default (no modifier)
5. We would like to make a member of a class visible in all subclasses regardless of what
package they are in. Which keyword would achieve this ?
a. Private
b. Protected
c. Public
d. Private protected
6. Which of the following keywords are used to control access to a class member?
a. Default
b. Abstract
c. Protected
d. Interface public
e. Public
7. A package is a collection of
a. Classes
b. Interfaces
c. Editing tools
d. Classes and interfaces
8. Study the following code.
package p1;
public class student
{ }
class test
{ }
import p1.*
class Result
{
student s1;
Text t1;
}
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Code will not compile because
a. Class Result should be declared public.
b. Student class is not available.
c. Test class is not available.
d. package p1 is not complete.
9. Consider the following code.
interface Area
{
float compute (float x, float y);
}
class Room implements Area
{
float compute (float x, float y)
{
return (x * y);
}
}
What is wrong in the code?
a. Interface definition is incomplete.
b. Method compute( ) in interface Area should be declared public.
c. Method compute( ) in class Room should be declared public.
d. All of the above.
10. Concept of multiple inheritance is implemented in J ava by
a. Extending two or more classes.
b. Extending one class and implementing one or more interfaces.
c. Implementing two or more interfaces.
d. All the above.
11. Given below are two files.
package purchase;
public class Employee Employee.java
{
protected int age = 10;
}
import purchase.*;
public class org
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
Employee e = new Employee( ); org.java
System.out.println ("Age =" + e.age);
}
}
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Interfaces and Packages Will the file org.java compile ? Yes or No? If No, why ?
12. Consider the example program written in section 10.1.2. Design a package to contain the
class student and another package to contain the interface sports. Run the complete program.
13. Write a program to implement sort class explained in section 10.1.2.
14. Declare an interface called function that has a method named evaluate( ) that takes an
arbitrary integer value as a parameter and returns an integer value. Create a class half that
implements function. Make the implementation of method evaluate. Return the value obtained
by dividing the integer value by 2. Create a method that takes an arbitrary array of integer
values as parameters and return an array that has the same length but the value of an
element in the new array is half that of the value in the corresponding element in the array
passed as the parameter.
11.10 FURTHER READINGS
E.Balaguruswami, Programming with Java, Tata McGraw-Hill.
Davis, Stephen R., Learn Java Now, Microsoft Press.
Naughton, Patrick, The Java Hand Book, OSborne McGraw- Hill.
Sams.net, J ava unleased.
Herbert Schildt, The Complete Reference Java 2, Tata McGraw-Hill.
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12
EXCELPTION HANDLING
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe the fundamentals of exception handling
Describe various types of exceptions
Understand the use of Try and Catch keywords
Understand the use of Throw, Throws and Finally keywords
Understand some J ava built-in exception
Understand user defined exceptions
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Fundamentals of Exception Handling
12.3 Types of Exceptions
12.4 Uncaught Exceptions
12.5 Try and Catch Keywords
12.6 Throw, Throws and Finally
12.7 Nested Try Statements
12.8 J ava Built in Exceptions
12.9 User Defined Exceptions
12.10 Summary
12.11 Keywords
12.12 Review Questions
12.13 Further Readings
12.1 INTRODUCTION
As programs become more complicated, making them robust is a much more difficult task.
Traditional programming languages like C rely on the heavy use of handlers and cryptic return
codes for propagating the abnormal conditions back to the calling methods. Using an exception-
handling mechanism, J ava provides an elegant way to build programs that are both robust and
clear. After completing this chapter you should be able to learn the concept of exception handling.
You should be able to write code to catch, handle and throw exceptions and to create your own
exceptions. This unit introduces you to exception handling capabilities built into J ava and teaches
you to write code to handle exceptions.
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12.2 FUNDAMENTALS OF EXCEPTION HANDLING
An exception is a condition that is caused by a runtime error in the program. In reality, your
program may have to deal with many unexpected problems such as missing files, bad user input,
dropped network connections etc. If these abnormal conditions are not prevented or at least
handled properly, either the program will be aborted abruptly or the incorrect results or status will
be carried on, causing more and more abnormal conditions. J ava provides an elegant approach to
handling these problems with the exception mechanism.
A J ava exception is an object that describes an exceptional condition that has occurred in a piece
of code. When an exceptional condition arises, an object representing that exception is created
and thrown in the method that caused the error. At some point, the exception is caught and
processed. Exceptions can be generated by the J ava run-time system or they can be manually
generated by your code.
J ava exception handling is managed by 5 keywords:
try, catch, throw, throws, finally.
When an error occurs, its mechanism performs the following tasks:
Find the problem (hit the exception).
Inform that an error has occurred (throw the exception).
Receive the error information (catch the exception).
Take corrective actions (handle the exception).
When an exception occurs within a J ava method, the method creates an exception object and
hands it over to the run-time system. This process is called throwing an exception. The exception
object contains information about the exception including its type and the state of the program
when the error occurred.
When a J ava method throws an exception, the J ava runtime system searches all the methods in
the call stack to find one that can handle this type of exception. This is known as catching the
exception. If the runtime system does not find an appropriate exception handler, the whole program
terminates.
In traditional programming, error handling often makes the code more confusing to read. J ava
separates the details of handling errors from the main work of the program and they cannot be
ignored.
The general form of exception handling block-
try
{
// block of code to monitor for errors
}
catch (ExceptionType exob)
{
// code to handle exception occurred
}
catch (ExceptionType exob2)
{
// code to handle exception
}
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12.3 TYPES OF EXCEPTIONS
All exception types are subclasses of the built in class Throwable. The hierarchy of Throwable
class is shown in the diagram.
java.lang.object
java.lang.Throwable
java.lang.Error
Unrecoverable errors
java.lang.Exception
java.lang.Runtime Exception
various unchecked exceptions
various checked exceptions.
Exception class is used for exceptional conditions that user programs should catch. This is also
the class to create your own custom exception. The java.lang.Error defines the exception, which
are not expected to be caught. e.g. stack overflow. If an error is generated, it normally indicates a
problem that will be fatal to the program.
Unchecked (run-time) exceptions are extensions of Runtime Exception class. Exceptions of this
type are automatically defined for the program and include things like, divide by zero and invalid
array indexing. If a runtime exception occurs and your program does not handle it, the J VM will
terminate your program. Checked exceptions are extensions of the exception class the exceptions
must be caught and handled somewhere in your application. Checked exceptions must be handled
either by try and catch block or by using throws clause in method declarations.
12.4 UNCAUGHT EXCEPTIONS
class Error2
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
int a = 10;
int b = 5;
int c = 5;
int x = a/b-c;
System.out.println ("x = "+ x);
int y = a / (b+c);
System.out.println ("y =" + y);
}
}
When the J ava run-time system detects attempt to divide by zero, it constructs a new exception
object and then throws this exception. This causes the execution of Error2 class to stops because
once an exception has been thrown, it must be caught and dealt with. In this example, exception
is caught by the default handler.
Any exception that is not caught by your program, will be processed by default handler. J ava
Runtime System generates an error condition which causes the default handler to print the error
and to terminate the program.
The errors are printed by Stack Trace. The stack trace will always show the sequence of method
invocations that led up to the error. The call stack is useful for debugging because it pinpoints the
precise sequence of steps that led to the error.
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12.5 TRY AND CATCH KEYWORDS
The programmer can provide for handling of exceptions using the J ava keywords try and catch,
with or without finally. Try and catch allow us to fix the error. It prevents the program from
automatically terminating. A try statement is used to enclose a block of code in which an exception
may occur.
The try block can have one or more statements that could generate an exception. If any one
statement generates an exception, the remaining statements in the block are skipped and execution
jumps to the catch block that is placed next to the try block. The catch block can have one or more
statements that are necessary to process the exception. Every try statement should be followed
by at least one catch statement. Catch statement is passed a single parameter which is reference
to the exception object thrown. If the catch parameter matches with the type of exception object,
then the exception is caught and statements in the catch block will be executed. Otherwise, the
exception is not caught and the default exception handler will cause the execution to terminate.
The scope of the variable named in the catch clause is restricted to the catch code block.
A succession of catch clause can be attached to a try statement. If the thrown exception cannot
be assigned to the variable in the first catch clause, the J VM looks at the second and so on. If the
code block in the try statement executes without throwing an exception, all of the catch clauses
are ignored and execution resumes after the last catch.
The order of the catch clause must reflect the exception hierarchy, with the most specific exception
first. If the first catch was the most general, none of the others could be reached.
class Error3
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
int a = 10, b = 5, c = 5, x, y;
try
{
x = a/(b-c);
}
catch (Arithmetic Exception e)
{
System.out.println ("Division by zero");
}
y = a/(b+c);
System.out.println ("y =" + y);
}
}
Output : Division by zero
y = 1
Note that the program did not stop at the point of exceptional condition. It catches the error,
prints appropriate error message and then continues the program execution after catch block.
12.6 THROW, THROWS AND FINALLY
It is possible for your program to throw an exception explicitly rather than let it be thrown by the
J ava run-time system. The exceptions that you throw can be standard system exceptions or you
can create your own. The general syntex is
throw expression;
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Here, expression is an object of type Throwable or subclass of Throwable. There are two ways of
creating Throwable object:
Using a parameter into catch clause.
Creating one with the new operator.
throw new NullPointerException ("demo");
throw new ArithmeticException( );
The flow of execution stops immediately after the throw statement.
The nearest enclosing try block is inspected to see if it has a catch statement that matches the
type of the execution. If not, then the next enclosing try statement is inspected and so on. If no
matching catch is found, then default exception handler halts the program and prints stack trace.
class ThrowDemo
{
static void demoproc( )
{
try
{
throw new NullPointException ("Demo");
}
catch (NullPointerException e)
{
System.out.println ("Caught inside demoproc");
throw e;
}
}
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
try
{
demoproc( );
}
catch (NullPointerException e)
{
System.out.println ("Recaught" + e);
}
}
}
Output : Caught inside demoproc
Recaught : java.lang.NullPointerException : demo
main( ) method sets up an exception context and then calls demoproc( ). demoproc( ) method sets
up another exception context and throws NULLPointerException. The exception is then rethrown.
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Throws
The alternative to using try and catch wherever a checked exception occurs, is simply to declare
that the method throws the exception. If a method is capable of causing an exception that it does
not handle, it must specify this behaviour so that the callers of the method can guard themselves
against that exception. In other words, a method that throws an exception within it must catch
that exception or have that exception declared in its "throws" clause, unless the exception is a
subclass of either the Error clause or the RuntimeException class.
A throws clause lists the type of exception that a method might throw. General form of throws
clause:
type method name (parameter List) throws exceptionlist
{
// body of method
}
Example: int calc (String filename) throws IOException, InterruptedException
When you have a method in a subclass that has the same name, parameter list and return type as
a method in the parent class, the subclass method is said to override the parent class. The J ava
compiler will allow the overriding subclass method to be defined as, throwing the same exception
as its superclass method, throwing one or more subclasses of superclass exception or not throwing
any exceptions. It will not allow the overriding subclass to be declared as throwing a more general
exception or exception from other hierarchy.
Example:
class Throwdemo
{
static void throwOne( ) throws IllegalAccessException
{
System.out.println ("Inside throwOne");
throw new IllegalAccessException ("demo");
}
public static void main (String arge [ ])
{
try
{
throwOne( );
}
catch (lllegalAccessException e)
{
System.out.println ("Caught" + e);
}
}
}
Output : inside throwOne
Caught java.lang.IllegalAccessException : demo
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The compiler relies on the declaration of throws clauses to determine if an exception may occur in
an expression, a statement, or a method. The compiler issues an error message for any method
that does not declare all exceptions in its throws clause.
Finally
The idea behind finally is that the programmer needs to have a way to correctly dispose of system
resources, such as open files, no matter which exceptions are thrown by the code in a try block.
If try statement has a finally clause attached, the code block associated with finally is always
executed regardless of how the try block exits.
Normal termination, by falling through the end brace.
Because of return or break statement.
Because an exception was thrown.
The finally clause is optional. However, each try statement requires at least one catch or a finally
clause.
Example:
public int testx (String x)
{
try
{
return someMethod(x);
}
catch (NullPointerException nex)
{
System.out.print ("Null Pointer,");
return -1;
}
catch (Run timeException rex)
{
System.our.print ("Runtime");
return -2;
}
finally
{
System.out.println ("Finally");
}
}
Output : No exception thrown in SomeMethod( )
"Finally" is printed
If NullPointerException is thrown
"NullPointer, Finally" is printed
If ArithmeticException is thrown in someMethod( )
"Runtime, Finally" is printed.
An uncaught exception is thrown in someMethod "Finally" is printed.
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Student Activity 1
1. What is an exception?
2. List the exception handling keywords available in J ava.
3. Describe various types of exceptions.
4. What are uncaught exceptions?
5. What is the function of try and catch statements? Give an example to explain it.
6. How will you create throwable objects?
7. Describe the usage of throws and finally keywords.
12.7 NESTED TRY STATEMENTS
Try statement can be nested inside the block of another try. Each time a try statement is entered,
the context of that exception is pushed on the stack. If inner try does not have a catch handler for
particular exception, the stack is unwound and the next try statement's catch handlers are inspected
for a match. This continues until one of the catch statements succeeds or until all of the nested try
statements are exhausted.
class NestTry
{
public static void main (String args [ ])
{
try
{
int a = args.length;
int b = 42/a;
System.out.println ("a =" + a);
try
{
// nested try block
if (a = = 1)
a = 9/(a-a); (// zero divide)
if (a = = 2)
{
int c[ ] = {1};
c [42] = 99; // out of bound array
}
}
catch (ArrayIndexoutofBoundExceptione)
{
System.out.prinln (Array index out-of-bound" + e);
}
}
catch (ArithmeticException e)
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{
System.out.Println ("Divide by 0:" + e);
}
}
}
When no command line argument is passed, divide by-zero exception is generated by outer try
block. With one command line argument, divide by zero is generated by nested try block. Since
the inner block does not catch this exception, it is passed on to the outer try block. With two
command line arguments, an array boundary exception is generated and handled by inner try
block.
12.8 JAVA BUILT IN EXCEPTIONS
Inside the standard package java.lang, J ava defines several exception classes. The most general
exceptions are subclasses of type Runtime Exception. Since java.lang is implicitly added, most
exceptions derived from Runtime Exception are automatically available.
EXCEPTION MEANING
Arithmetic Exception Arithmetic error, such as divide by zero.
ArrayIndexOutOfBoundException Array index is out of bound.
ArrayStoreException Assignment to an array element of an incompatible
type
ClassCast Exception Invalid cast.
IllegalArgumentException Illegal argument used to invoke a method.
Illegal MonitorStateException Illegal monitor operation, such as waiting on an
unlocked thread.
NegativeArraySizeException Array created with a negative size.
Class NotFoundException Class not found.
No SuchMethodException A requested method does not exist.
InterruptedException One thread has been interrupted by another thread.
StackOverflowException Caused when the system runs out of stack space.
12.9 USER DEFINED EXCEPTIONS
You can define your own exception types to handle situations specific to your applications. It is
done just by defining a subclass of Exception. All exceptions which you create have the methods
defined by Throwable available to them. You can override one or more methods in exception class
that you create. For e.g. String toString( ), void print StackTrace( ), String getMessage( ).
Subclassing
Exception is a subclass of Throwable.
Example:
import java.lang.exception;
class MyException extends Exception
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{
MyException (String message)
{
Super (message);
}
}
class TestMyException
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
int x = 5, y = 1000;
try
{
float z = (float)x / (float) y;
if (z < 0.01)
{
throw new MyException ("Number is too small);
}
}
catch (MyException e)
{
System.out.println ("Caught my exception");
System.out.println (e.getMessage( ));
}
finally
{
System.out.println ("I am always here");
}
}
}
Output : Caught my exception
Number is too small
I am always here
The object e which contains the error message "Number is too small" is caught by the catch block
which then displays the message using the getMessage( ) method.
The common practice in creating a customized exception class is to subclass the "Exception"
class. This ensures that compiler checks if it is dealt with properly. However, if you are writing
system or hardware related utilities, you may be justified in creating subclasses from either Error
or RuntimeException classes. You may choose to create exception classes in a hierarchy.
Student Activity 2
1. What is the advantage of nesting try statements?
2. Give any five J ava built-in exceptions.
3. What are user defined exceptions?
4. Give an example to show that exception is a subclass of Throwable.
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12.10 SUMMARY
J ava provides a clean and robust mechanism for handling abnormal conditions.
First you try to execute block of statements. If an abnormal condition occurs, the system
throws an exception and you catch the exception and finally there can be a code block you
always want to execute.
Exceptions are objects of "throwable" class.
You can create your own exception classes as subclasses of the exception class. You can
create a hierarchy of exception classes so that the handler has more flexibility in handling
the exceptions.
A method that may cause an exception to be thrown, must catch that exception or have that
exception defined in its "throws" clause.
12.11 KEYWORDS
A J ava exception is an object that describes an exceptional condition that has occurred in a piece
of code.
Try and catch allow us to fix the error. It prevents the program from automatically terminating. A
try statement is used to enclose a block of code in which an exception may occur.
12.12 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is an exception ? How do we define try/catch block ?
2. What is a finally block ? When and how is it used ?
3. Is it essential to catch all types of exceptions ?
4. How many catch blocks can we use with one try block ?
5. A catch can have comma separated multiple arguments. True / False.
6. Throwing an exception always causes program termination. True / False.
7. What will be the output of
class test
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
try
{
double x = 0.0;
throw (new Exception ("Thrown"));
return;
}
catch (Exception e)
{
System.out.println ("Exception caught");
return;
}
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finally
{
System.out.println ("finally");
}
}
}
8. Complete the following code with given choices such that the method would calculate the
sum of all the elements in an array of int.
public int total (int [ ] x)
{
int i, t = 0;
{
t = t + x {i++];
}
return t;
}
a. for (int i = 0; i <x.length;)
b. for (i = 0; i <x.length;)
c. for (i = 0; i <x.length; i++)
d. for (i = 1; i <=x.length;; i++)
9. You create custom class hierarchy for handling exception as follows :
Exception
BadtasteException
BitterException
SourException
Your application class Basecook has a method declared as follows:
int flavor (Ingredient list[ ]) throws BadtasteException
A class derived from Basecook has a method that overrides flavor. Which of the following
are legal declarations of the overriding methods?
a. int flavor (Ingredient list [ ]) throws BadtexteException
b. int flavor (Ingredient list [ ]) throws BitterException
c. int flavor (Ingredient list [ ]) throws Exception
d. int flavor (Ingredient list[ ])
10. Assume that the above custom Exceptions have constructors taking a String parameter.
Which of the following shows a correct complete statement.
a. new SourException ("hello);
b. throws new SourException ("hello");
c. throw new SourException ("hello");
d. throw SourException ("hello");
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11. Define an exception "NoMatch found" that is thrown when a string is not equal to "UPTEC".
Write a program that uses this exception.
12. Write a program that throws an exception whenever an attempt is made to divide a given
number by an even number in a loop which runs from 1 to 10.
12.13 FURTHER READINGS
E. Balaguruswami, Programming with Java, Tata McGraw-Hill.
Davis, Stephen R., Learn Java Now, Microsoft Press.
Naughton, Patrick, The Java Hand Book, OSborne McGraw- Hill.
Sams.net, J ava unleased.
Herbert Schildt, The Complete Reference Java 2, Tata McGraw-Hill.
UNIT
13
MULTITHREADED PROGRAMMING
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe the J ava thread model
Describe a thread and its life cycle
Describe priorities
Describe synchronization
Describe messaging
Describe the thread class and runnable interface
Describe how to create multiple threads
Describe synchronization and deadlock
Describe how to suspend, resume and stop threads.
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
13.1 Introduction
13.2 The J ava Thread Model
13.3 Priorities
13.4 Synchronization
13.5 Messaging
13.6 The Thread Class and Runnable Interface
13.7 Creation of Threads
13.8 Creating Multiple Threads
13.9 Synchronization and Deadlock
13.10 Suspending, Resuming and Stopping Threads
13.11 Summary
13.12 Keywords
13.13 Review Questions
13.14 Further Readings
13.1 INTRODUCTION
J ava programs contain only single sequential flow of execution. A typical program is executed
sequentially and is single threaded. If a single threaded program's execution is blocked while
waiting for some I/O operation, no other portion of the program can proceed. All modern operating
systems may execute multiple programs simultaneously, even if there is only a single CPU available
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to run all the applications. Multithreading allows multiple tasks to execute concurrently within a
single program. The advantage of multiple threads in a program is that it utilizes system resources
(like CPU) better because other threads can grab CPU time when one line of execution is blocked.
By using multithreading, you can create programs showing animation, play music, display
document and download files from the network simultaneously. One unique feature of J ava is the
ease with which a programmer can write multithreaded programs. In C or C++, implementation of
multithreading involves platform specific toolkit. J ava was designed from the start to accomodate
multithreading. In this unit you will learn how to create threads using thread class and runnable
interface and how to allocate priority of execution to different threads in a program. You will be
able to create a synchronized method to avoid collision in which more than one thread attempts
to modify the same object at the same time.
13.2 THE JAVA THREAD MODEL
Multithreading allows a running program to perform several tasks, apparently, at the same time.
J ava uses threads to enable the entire environment to be asynchronous. It makes maximum use of
CPU because idle time can be kept to minimum. This helps reduce inefficiency by preventing the
waste of CPU cycles. For example, it is useful for networked environment as data transfer over
network is much slower than the rate at which the computer works. Multithreading lets you gain
access to this idle time and put it to good use. Single-threaded system works on an event loop
with polling approach.
In this model, a single thread of control runs in an infinite loop, polling a single event queue to
decide what to do next. Once this polling mechanism returns with a signal (e.g. that a network file
is ready to be read), then the event loop dispatches control to the appropriate event handler. Until
this event handler returns, nothing can happen in the system. This wastes CPU time. The benefit
of J ava multithreading is that the main loop / polling mechanism is eliminated.
The J ava runtime system depends on threads for many things and all class libraries are designed
with multithreading in mind. Threads are used extensively in J ava enabled browsers such as Hot
J ava. A thread exists in several states.
Running thread
Ready to run as soon as it gets CPU time
Suspended thread
Suspended thread can be resumed
Thread can be blocked
Thread can be terminated.





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What is a Thread
Any single path of execution is called thread. The path is defined by elements such as stack (for
handling calls to other methods with the code) and set of registers to store temporary memory.
These elements are collectively known as context. Every program has at least one thread. Each
thread has its own stack, priority and virtual set of registers. If there are two pieces of code that
do not have the same context, then they are executed in two different threads.
Threads subdivide the runtime behaviour of a program into separate, independently running
subtasks. Switching between threads is carried out automatically by J VM. Even in a single
processor system, thread provides an illusion of carrying out several tasks simultaneously. This
is possible because switching between threads happens very fast.
Thread's Life Cycle
A thread is always in one of five states.
When we create a thread object, it is said to be in newborn state. At this stage we can start the
thread using start( ) method or kill it using stop( ) method. The thread in runnable state means
that the thread is ready for execution and is waiting for CPU time. Running state means CPU has
given its time to the thread for execution.
A thread is said to be in blocked state when it is suspended, sleeping or waiting in order to satisfy
some condition. The suspended thread can be revived by using the resume( ) method. The
thread which is sleeping can enter into runnable state as soon as the specified time period is
elapsed. The thread in the wait( ) state can be scheduled to run again using the notify( ) method.
The thread dies when its run( ) method completes its execution. A thread can be killed using the
stop( ) method.
Where are Threads Used ?
Word processing program handles a print request in a separate thread. Many users find it
convenient to continue working in wordprocessing application even after submitting print request.
Downloading a file from Internet and browsing another site are implemented in different threads
in the browser program. The Oracle database is another example of a program that uses threads.
Database "connect" request to a common resource is handled by different threads. Operating
Systems (specially networked OS) are written using threads. Operating systems usually run
many applications such as a web browser and a word processing program at the same time. A
multithreaded program can indirectly benefit the end user because it can efficiently use the CPU.
Newborn
Start
Running Runnable
Yield
Stop
Dead
Stop
BlockedState
Suspend
Sleep
Wait
Resume
notify
Stop
Idle State not
runnable
Newborn
Start
Running Runnable
Yield
Stop
Dead
Stop
BlockedState
Suspend
Sleep
Wait
Resume
notify
Stop
Idle State not
runnable



















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If a program is waiting for user response over the network, during this waiting time other useful
tasks can be performed simultaneously. A thread program can directly benefit the user in
applications that employ GUI components. When a button is pressed to execute one task, the
program can make other buttons available to perform other independent programs.
Student Activity 1
1. What is the advantage of multithreading?
2. What is a thread?
3. Name various states in which a thread exist.
4. Describe various states of a threads life cycle.
5. Where are threads used?
13.3 PRIORITIES
In J ava, each thread is assigned a priority which affects the order in which the thread is scheduled.
A newly created thread inherits the priority of the thread that created it. Thread priorities are
integers that specify the relative priority of one thread over another. Thread's priority is used to
decide when to switch from one running thread to the next. The switching can be implemented by
yielding, sleeping or blocking a thread and CPU time is given to the highest priority thread. The
high priority threads can dominate the processor.
A lower priority thread can be preempted by a higher-priority thread. I n cases where two
threads have the same priority, for e.g., operating system such as windows 98, are time sliced
automatically in a round-robin fashion. For some other OS, threads of equal priority must
voluntarily give control to others. The implementation of J ava threads depends on the scheduling
policy of the Operating System (OS).
Priority of a thread is set using setPriority( ) method. The Priority values are MIN_PRIORITY =1,
NORM_PRIORITY =5 MAX_PRIORITY =10. If the value is larger than the maximum priority
value of its parent thread group, the max priority (of the group) value will be used.
In general, you should set process-intensive threads to a lower priority than threads that must
respond quickly to user-interface events such as button click. Most of the time, the thread
waiting for user interaction event is blocked which allows the lower-priority thread to run. However,
as soon as the user interface event occcurs, the higher priority thread will immediately preempt a
low priority thread and pushes the low priority thread into the queue for its next turn, and keeps
the user happy. This is called preemptive scheduling. In some cases, thread execution is time-
sliced. Even threads with lower priorities will get a small portion of execution time, roughly
proportional to their priority values.
13.4 SYNCHRONIZATION
Synchronization is the way to avoid data corruption caused by simultaneous access to the same
data. Multithreading introduces an asynchronous behaviour in your program. This makes it
possible for two threads to run synchronously so that they can share the data between them e.g.
one thread is writing data and other is in the middle of reading data. Suppose that you have a
program to handle a user's bank account. To deposit money in the account, program gets the
current balance from the remote server which may take as long as five seconds. The program adds
newly deposited amount to current balance and sends the updated amount to remote server
which may again take five seconds to complete. If two deposit threads, each making a Rs 5000
deposit are started roughly at the same time, database may reflect the result of just one deposit.
Such a conflict should not occur. J ava maintains interprocess synchronization through object's
synchronized method. Once a thread is inside a synchronized method, no other thread can call
any other synchronized method on the same object. Each object has an associated lock variable
that can be manipulated by the J VM. This lock provides a mechanism that can be used to allow
only one thread at a time to have access to an object.
Since it would take additional time for the JVM to check the lock condition of an object every time
it is accessed, the lock is ignored by default. The keyword synchronized indicates a method or
block to be guarded by the lock mechanism.
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Once obtained, a thread's lock on an object is not released until the thread exits the synchronized
code block or user uses wait( ) method in the object class. The synchronized keyword affects
only the code block in the original class.
A synchronized method consumes extra CPU time on entry and exit, so you should use
synchronized method for a good cause.
Any number of threads can be ready to execute a synchronized code block. A single thread can
obtain locks on many objects and / or multiple locks on the same object. The J VM ensures that
the lock is removed when a thread exits the code block.
13.5 MESSAGING
In a multithreaded program, you need to define how the threads will communicate with each other.
Java implements messaging through calls to predefined methods that all object's have e.g. notify( ),
notifyall( ). In most of the other languages, you must depend on the operating system to establish
communication between threads.
13.6 THE THREAD CLASS AND RUNNABLE INTERFACE
Thread programming has two parts. In the first part we create a thread class. In the second part we
actually run the thread. A new thread can be created in two different ways.
Define a class that extends thread class and override its run( ) method.
The thread class defines several methods.
getName( ), getPriority( ), isAlive( ), join( ) run( ), sleep( ), start( )
By converting a class to a thread by implementing runnable interface. The runnable interface
has only one method run( ).
Every program runs in a thread. When a J ava program starts up, one thread begins running
immediately and is called the main thread of the program. The main thread is the thread from which
other child threads will be spawned. Putting a thread to sleep is a technique to allow other threads
to run. When the main thread stops, the program terminates. Main thread cannot be controlled by
methods of the thread object. To do so, you must obtain a reference to the main thread using
currentThread( ) method and then use the other methods on main method.
Example :
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
Thread t = Thread.currentThread( );
t.setName ("new main"),
}
To get more information about the thread following methods can be used:
getName( ) : Returns the current name of the thread.
getPriority ( ) : Returns the current priority of the thread.
isAlive( ) : Returns true if the thread is started but is not yet dead.
join( ) : Waits for the thread to terminate.
start( ) : Puts the new thread into a runnable state.
run( ) : When a thread is started, the scheduler calls its run( ) method.
sleep( ) : Suspends a thread for a period of time.
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13.7 CREATION OF THREADS
When you create a new thread object, it is created in blocked state. Calling a thread's start( )
method removes the initial block and calls the scheduler to call the run( ) method. This places the
thread in a queue.
Creating Thread Using the Thread Class
Creation of thread is a two step process-
1. Create the new class:
a. Define a subclass of thread.
b. Override its run( ) method.
2. Instantiate and run the thread:
a. Create an instance of class.
b. Call its start( ) method.
This causes the scheduler to launch the new thread by calling its run( ) method and putting the
thread in the queue for execution. When the other running threads release CPU, it will run.
class A extends Thread
{
public void run( )
{
for (int i = 1; i < = 5; i++)
{
System.out.println ("\t From Thread A : i = "+ i);
}
System.out.println ("Exit from A");
}
}
class B extends Thread
{
public void run( )
{
for (int j = 1, j < = 5; j++)
{
System.out.println ("\t From Thread B : j = "+j);
}
System.out.println ("Exit from B");
}
}
class C extends Thread
{
public void run( )
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{
for (int k = 1; k < = 5; k++)
{
System.out.println ("\t From Threadc : k = " +k);
}
System.out.println ("Exit from (");
}
}
class ThreadTest
{
public static void main( )
{
new A( ).start( );
new B( ).start( );
new C( ).start( );
}
}
In the above program, main thread initiated three new threads and started them. The output of the
program will not be sequential. They do not follow any specific order. They are running
independently and each executes whenever it has a chance. Note that every time we run this
program we get different output sequence.
Creating Threads Using Runnable Interface
To create a thread, declare a class that implements the runnable interface. To implement runnable,
a class needs to only implement a single method called run( ). After you create a class that
implements runnable, you will instantiate an object of type thread using the constructor of thread
class.
Thread (Object of Runnable Interface)
The new thread will not start running until you call its start( ) method. Start( ) executes a call to the
run( ) method.
class X implements Runnable
{
public void run( )
for (int i = 1; i < = 10; i++)
{
System.out.println ("\t Thread x: " +i);
}
System.out.println ("End of ThreadX");
}
class RunnableTest
{
public static void main( )
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{
X runnable = new X( );
Thread threadX = new Thread (runnable);
threadX.start( );
System.out.println ("End of main Thread");
}
}
In main method, we first create an instance of X and then pass this instance as the initial value of
the object thread X. Whenever the new thread threadX starts up, its run( ) method calls the run()
method of the target object supplied to it.
In multithreaded program, the main thread must be the last thread to finish running. If the main
thread finishes before a child thread has completed, then the J ava run-time system may "hang".
One simple method to finish child thread before the main thread is to use sleep method in the main
thread.
Stopping and Blocking Thread
Sometimes, suspending execution of thread is useful. For example, a separated thread can be
used to display the time of day. If the user doesn't want a clock, then its thread can be suspended.
Whenever we want to stop a thread from running further, we may do so by calling its stop
method.
aThread.stop( );
Thread automatically stops when it reaches the end of method. The stop( ) method may be used
when the premature death of a thread is desired. The thread can also be temporarily suspended
or blocked from entering into the runnable and subsequently running state by using
sleep( )
suspend( )
wait( )
The thread will return to the runnable state when the specified time is elapsed in case of sleep( ).
The resume( ) method is invoked in the case of suspend( ), and the notify( ) method is called in the
case of wait( ).
Student Activity 2
1. Write a short note on the following :
(a) Priorities
(b) Synchronization
(c) Messaging
2. How can you create a new thread?
3. How can you create a thread using runnable interface?
4. How can you suspend execution of a thread?
13.8 CREATING MULTIPLE THREADS
Using IsAlive( ) and Join( )
You can have threads communicate with each other through shared data and by using thread
control methods e.g. suspend( ), resume( ) etc. All threads in the same program share the same
memory space. If the reference to an object is visible to different threads, or explicitly passed to
different threads, these threads share access to the data member of that object.
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In multithreaded application, the main thread must be the last thread to finish. This can be
accomplished by calling sleep( ) within main( ) with long enough delay to ensure that all child
threads terminate prior to the main thread.
The threads communicate by waiting for each other. For example, the join( ) method can be used
for the caller thread to wait for the completion of the called thread. Also, a thread can suspend
itself and wait at some point using suspend( ) method; another thread can wake it up through the
waiting thread's resume( ) method, and both threads can run concurrently.
One thread can know when another thread has ended using isAlive( ) method which returns true
if the thread upon which it is called is still running. If the thread is alive, it does not mean it is
running it is in runnable state. Another method used for this purpose is join( ). This method
waits until the thread on which it is called terminates. join( ) also allows you to specify a maximum
amount of time that you want to wait for the specified thread to terminate.
class Nthread implements runnable
{
string name;
Thread t;
NThread (String threadname)
{
name = threadname;
t = new Thread (this, name);
System.out.println ("New Thread" + t);
t.start( );
}
public void run( )
{
try
{
for (int i = 5; i > 0; i - - )
{
System.out.println (name +" : " + i);
Thread.sleep (1000);
}
}
catch (InterruptedException e)
{
System.out.println (name + "interrupted");
}
System.out.println (name + "exiting");
}
}
class DemoJoin
{
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public static void main( )
{
Nthread ob1 = new Nthread ("One");
Nthread ob2 = new Nthread ("Two");
Nthread ob3 = new Nthread ("Three");
System.out.println ("Thread one is alive" +
ob1.t.isAlive( );
System.out.println ("Thread Two is alive" +
ob2.t.isAlive( );
System.out.println ("Thread Three is alive"
+ ob3.t.isAlive( );
try
{
System.out.println ("waiting for thread to finish");
ob1.t.join( );
ob2.t.join( );
ob3.t.join( );
}
catch (InterruptedException e)
{
System.out.println ("Main thread Interrupted");
}
System.out.println ("Thread one is alive" + ob1.t.
isAlive( );
System.out.println ("Thread Two is alive" + ob2.t.
isAlive( );
System.out.println ("Thread Three is alive" +
ob3.t. isAlive( );
System.out.println ("Main thread exiting");
}
}
Sample Output : New thread : Thread [One, 5, main]
New thread : Thread [Two, 5, main]
New thread : Thread [Three, 5, main]
Thread Three is alive : true
waiting for thread to finish
One : 5
Two : 5
Three : 5
One : 4
Two : 4
Three : 4
One : 3
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Two : 3
Three : 3
One : 2
Two : 2
Three : 2
One : 1
Two : 1
Three : 1
Two exiting
Three exiting
Thread One is alive : False
Thread Two is alive : False
Thread Three is alive : False
Main Thread exiting
NOTE After the calls to join( ), the threads have stopped.
Thread Priorities
Priorities are the way to make sure that important or time-critical threads are executed frequently
or immediately. Thread priorities are used by the thread scheduler to decide when each thread
should be allowed to run. In theory, higher priority threads get more CPU time than lower-priority
threads. In practice, the amount of CPU time that a thread gets often depends on several factors
besides its priority. (For e.g., how an OS implements multitasking). A higher priority thread can
also preempt a lower priority one when higher priority thread resumes from sleep. Use setPriority( )
method to set a thread's priority.
final void setPriority (int level)
Here, level specifies the new priority setting for calling thread. The value of level must be within
the range MIN_PRIORITY and MAX_PRIORITY. If the value to be set is outside the legal range
an IllegalArgumentException will be thrown. To return a thread to default priority, specify
NORM_PRIORITY. Using getPriority( ) method you can obtain the current priority settings.
class A extends Thread
{
public void run( )
{
System.out.println ("threadA started");
for (int i = 1; i < = 4; i ++)
{
System.out.println ("\t From Thread A : i = "+ i);
}
System.out.println ("Exit from A");
}
}
class B extends Thread
{
public void run( )
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{
System.out.println ("thread B started");
for (int = 1; j < = 4; j ++)
System.out.println ("\t From Thread B : j = " + j);
}
System.out.println ("Exit from B");
}
class C extends Thread
{
public void run( )
{
System.out.println ("thread c started");
for (int k = 1; k < = 4; k++)
{
System.out.println ("\t from Thread C: k = "+k);
}
System.out.println ("Exit form C");
}
}
class ThreadPriority
{
public static void main( )
{
A threadA = new A( );
B threadB = new B( );
C threadC = new C( );
threadC. setPriority (Thread.MAX_PRIORITY);
threadB. setPriority (Thread.get_Priority( )+1);
threadA. setPriority (Thread.MIN_PRIORITY);
System.out.println ("Start thread A");
threadA. start( );
System.out.println ("Start thread B");
threadB. start( );
System.out.println ("Start thread C");
threadC. start( );
System.out.println ("End of main thread");
}
}
The above program illustrates the effect of assigning higher priority to a thread. Note that
although the thread A started first, the higher priority thread B has preempted it and started
printing the output first. Immediately, the thread C that has been assigned the highest priority
takes control over the other two threads. The thread A is the last to complete.
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13.9 SYNCHRONIZATION AND DEADLOCK
When two or more threads need access to a shared resource, they need some way to ensure that
the resource will be used by only one thread at a time. For example, one thread may try to read a
record from a file while another is still writing to the same file. This situation may give strange
results. J ava enables us to overcome this using synchronization. A key to synchronization is
"monitor". When we declare a method synchronized, J ava creates a "monitor" and hands it over
to the thread that calls the method first time. A monitor is an object that is used as a mutually
exclusive lock. Only one thread can own a monitor at a given time. While a thread is inside a
synchronized method, all other threads that try to call it on the same instance have to wait.
Whenever a thread has completed its work of using synchronized method, it will hand over the
monitor to the next thread that is ready to use same resource.
The following program has three classes. The first one, Callme, has a single method call( ). This
method prints the msgstring inside of square brackets. Notice that after call( ) prints the opening
bracket and msg string it calls Thread.sleep(1000), which pauses the current thread for one
second. The constructor of next class caller takes a reference to an instance of the Callme class
and a String, which are stored in target and msg, respectively. The constructor also creates a new
thread that will call this object's run( ) method. The run( ) method of caller calls the call( ) method
on target instance of Callme, passing in msg string. Finally, Synch class starts by creating a single
instance of Callme, and three instances of caller, each with a unique message string.
The result will be the mixed up output of the three message strings. In this program, nothing exists
to stop all three threads from calling the same method, on the same object, at the same time.
class Callme
{
void call (String msg)
{
System.out.println ("[" + msg);
try
{
Thread.sleep (1000);
}
catch (InterruptException e)
{
System.out.println ("]");
}
}
class Caller implements Runnable
String msg;
Callme target;
Thread t;
public Caller (Callme targ, String s)
{
target = trag;
msg = s;
t = new Thread (this);
t.start( );
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}
public void run ( )
{
target.call (msg);
}
}
class Synch
{
public static void main ( )
{
Callme target = new Callme( );
Caller ob1 = new Caller (target, "Hello");
Caller ob2 = new Caller (target, "Synchronized");
Caller ob3 = new Caller (garget, "World");
try
{
ob1.t.join( );
ob2.t.join( );
ob3.t.join( );
}
catch (interruptExectption e)
{
System.out.println ("Interrupted");
}
}
}
Output : [Hello [Synchronized [World]
]
]
Using Synchronized Statement
synchronized (object)
{
// statement to be synchronized
}
In synchronized statement synchronized keyword has to be used with object reference. It does
no good to synchronize local variables.
When we declare a method synchronized, J ava creates a monitor and hands it over to the thread
that calls the method first time. As long as the thread holds the monitor, no other thread can enter
the synchronized section of code. Whenever a thread has completed its work of using
synchronized method it will hand over the monitor to the next thread that is ready to use the same
resource.
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Deadlock
Situation may occur when two or more threads are waiting to gain control of a resource. Due to
some reason, the condition on which the waiting threads rely on to gain control does not happen.
This results in what is known as a deadlock. For example, assume that the thread 'A' must access
'MethodA' before it can release 'MethodB', but the thread 'B' cannot release 'MethodA' until it
gets hold of MethodB. Because these create mutually exclusive conditions, a deadlock occurs.
Suppose, one thread enters the monitor on object X and another thread enters the monitor on
object Y. If the thread in X tries to call any synchronized method on Y, it will block as expected.
However, if the thread in Y, in turn, tries to call any synchronized method on X, the thread waits
forever, because to access X, it would have to release its own lock on Y so that the first thread
could complete.
13.10 SUSPENDING, RESUMING AND STOPPING
THREADS
The suspend( ) method of the thread class is deprecated in J ava2 because suspend can sometimes
cause serious system failure. Assume that a thread obtains locks on important resource and if
that thread is suspended at that point, those locks are not relinquished. Other threads waiting for
these resources can be deadlocked.
resume( ) method cannot be used without suspend( ).
The stop( ) method is also deprecated in J ava2 because arbitrarily stopping a thread can leave an
object in a damaged state that might then cause unpredictable results.
In J ava2 we can suspend, resume or stop the thread by using wait( ), notify( ) methods.
class NThread implements Runnable
{
String name;
Thread t;
boolean suspendFlag;
NThread (String threadname)
{
name = threadname;
t = new Thread (this, name);
System.out.println ("New thread" + t);
suspendFlag = false;
t.start( );
}
public void run( ) {
try
{
for (int i = 15; i > 0; i - -)
{
System.our.println (name + ": " +i);
Thread.sleep (200);
synchronized (this)
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{
while (suspendFlag)
{
wait( );
}
}
}
}
catch (InterruptedException e)
{
System.out.println (name + "interrupted");
}
System.out.println (name + "exiting");
}
void mysuspend( )
{
suspendFlag = true;
}
synchronized void myresume( )
{
suspendFlag = false;
notify( );
}
}
class SuspendResume
{
public static void main( )
{
NThread ob1 = new NThread ("One");
NThread ob2 = new NThread ("Two");
try
{
Thread.sleep (1000);
ob1.mysuspend( );
System.out.println ("Suspending thread One");
Thread.sleep (1000);
ob1.myresume( );
System.out.println ("Resuming thread One");
ob2.mysuspend( );
System.out.println ("Suspending thread Two");
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Thread.sleep (1000);
ob2.myresume( );
System.out.println ("Resuming thread Two");
}
catch (InterruptedException e)
{
System.our.println ("Main thread Interrupted");
}
try
{
System.out.println ("Waiting for thread to finish");
ob1.t.join( );
ob2.t.join( );
}
catch (InterruptedException e)
{
System.out.println ("Main thread Interrupted");
}
System.out.println ("Main thread exiting");
}
}
New thread : Thread [One, 5, main]
One : 15
New thread : Thread [Two 5, main]
Two : 15
One : 14
Two : 14
One : 13
Two : 13
One : 12
Two : 12
One : 11
Two : 11
Suspending thread One
Two : 10
Two : 9
Two : 8
Two : 7
Two : 6
Resuming thread One
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Suspending thread Two
One : 10
One : 9
One : 8
One : 7
One : 6
Resuming thread Two
Waiting for threads to finish
Two : 5
One : 5
Two : 4
One : 4
Two : 3
One : 3
Two : 2
One : 2
Two : 1
One : 1
Two exiting
One exiting
Main thread exiting
Student Activity 3
1. How will you create multiple threads?
2. Describe the function of Isalive( ) and J oin( ) methods.
3. What are thread priorities? Where are they used?
4. What do you mean by synchronization?
5. What is a deadlock?
6. Name the methods that can suspend, resume or stop the execution of a thread.
13.11 SUMMARY
J ava programs create thread objects to perform concurrent tasks.
A thread is a single line of execution within a program.
You can extend thread class or implement runnable interface to define a class which runs in
a separate thread.
Thread is always in one of the five states : Newborn, Running, Runnable, Blocked, or Dead.
Every thread has a priority value associated with it. J ava's scheduling is preemptive; i.e., a
higher priority thread will preempt the lower priority thread and can be executed immediately.
You can use synchronized methods to serialize access to shared resources.
Multithreading allows you for multiple paths of execution at the same time. Multiple threads
running concurrently improve the utilization of resources. Using this technique you can
create programs with multimedia and animation effects. Execution of each thread can be
controlled by join( ), yield and sleep methods defined in thread class.
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13.12 KEYWORDS
Thread : Any single path of execution.
Priority : The order in which the threads are scheduled.
Synchronization : The way to avoid data corruption caused by simultaneous access to the same
data.
Deadlock : Situation when two or more threads are waiting to gain control of a resource.
13.13 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is thread ? How do we start it? What are the two methods by which we may stop
threads ?
2. Describe the complete life cycle of a thread.
3. What is synchronization ? When do we use it ?
4. How do we set priorities for threads ?
5. Every call to wait has a corresponding call to notify that will eventually end the waiting.
True / False.
6. Declaring a method synchronized guarantees that the deadlock cannot occur. True / False.
7. A thread wants to make a second thread ineligible for execution. To achieve this, the first
thread can call the yield( ) method on the second thread. True / False.
8. A thread can make a second thread ineligible for execution by calling the suspend( ) method
on the second thread. True/False.
9. The sleep( ) method should be enclosed in try...catch block. True / False.
10. The yield( ) method must be enclosed in try...catch block. True / False.
11. The thread can be temporarily suspended from running by using the wait ( ) method. True/
False.
12. A suspended thread using suspend( ) method can be revived using the resume( ) method.
True / False.
13. When we implement the runnable interface, we must define which of the following methods?
a. start( )
b. init( )
c. run( )
f. main( )
g. runnable( )
14. What will be the output of the following code ?
class t1 extends Thread
{
public void run( )
{
System.out.prinln ("hello");
suspend( );
resume( );
System.out.println ("Bye");
}
}
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class test
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
t1 T = new t1( );
T.start( );
}
}
15. If you create a class that implements runnable, you have
already written its run( ) method. Which of these start( ) methods
should you use to call run method?
a. public void start( )
{
new Thread (this).start( );
}
b. public void start( )
{
Thread myT = new Thread( );
myT.start( );
}
c. public void start( )
{
Thread myT = new Thread (this);
myT.run( );
}
16. Which of the following statement is correct for the line given below?
Thread myT =new Thread( );
a. The myT is in runnable state.
b. The thread myT has the NORM_PRIORITY.
c. If myT.start( ) is called, the run method in the calling class will be
executed.
d. If myT.start( ) is called, the run method in the thread class will be
executed.
17. The object class has a wait method that is used to coordinate access to an object by
multiple threads. Which of the following statements about the wait method are true ?
a. The wait method is an instance method of the object class.
b. The wait( ) method is a static method of the object class.
c. To call wait, a thread must have a lock on the object involved.
d. An object can have only one thread in waiting state at a time.
18. Create three classes storage, printer and counter. The storage class should store an
integer. The counter class should create a thread that starts counting from zero and stores
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each value in the storage class. The printer class should create a thread that keeps reading
the value in the storage class and printing it.
19. Create a program that creates an instance of the storage class and sets up a counter and a
printer object to operate on it. The program is required to print 10 values only.
20. Fill in the blanks :
a. ......... allows a running program to perform several tasks, apparently, at the same time.
b. .................. between threads is carried out automatically by J VM.
c. When we create a thread object, it is said to be in .................. state.
d. A thread is said to be in .................. state when it is suspended, sleeping or waiting in
order to satisfy some condition.
e. .................. is the way to avoid data corruption caused by simultaneous access to the
same data.
f. The threads communicate by .................. for each other.
g. .................. threads get more CPV time than .................. threads.
h. The .................. method of the thread class is deprecated in J ava 2.
Answers to Review Questions
20. (a) Multithreading (b) Switching (c) Newborn
(d) Blocked (e) Synchronization (f) Waiting
(g) Higher priority, lower priority (h) Suspend( )
13.14 FURTHER READINGS
Herbert Schildt ; Java: The Complete Reference, J2SE TM ; 2005, Mc Graw-Hill Professional.
J im Farley ; OReilly, Java Distributed Computing.
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14
APPLETS AND INPUT OUTPUT
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe input / output basics of J ava
Describe J ava Streams
Understand how to read from and write to console.
Describe the fundamentals of Applets
Understand native methods and problems associated with them.
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Input/Output Basics
14.3 Streams (Byte and Character)
14.4 Reading From and Writing to Console
14.5 Reading and Writing Files
14.6 Printwriter Class
14.7 Fundamentals of Applets
14.8 Transient and Volatile Modifier
14.9 Strictfp
14.10 Native Methods
14.11 Problems with Native Methods
14.12 Summary
14.13 Keywords
14.14 Review Questions
14.15 Further Readings
14.1 INTRODUCTION
This unit will deal with the objective of data handling, that is, input and output. Fundamentals of
Applets and some important keywords related to it have also been discussed in the unit in
addition to some important classes which help in reading and writing.
14.2 INPUT/OUTPUT BASICS
J ava programs can be of both types text based console programs and also applets that rely
upon J ava's Abstract Windows Toolkit (AWT) for interaction with the user. Input can be from the
console or can also be from the AWT such as textfield, button etc. Output can be on the screen,
file or printer.
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14.3 STREAMS (BYTE AND CHARACTER)
J ava program performs Input/Output through streams. A stream is an abstraction that either
produces or consumes information. It is linked to a physical device by the J ava Input/Output
systems. J ava implements streams within class hierarchies defined in java.io package.
J ava defines two types of streams : byte and character. Byte streams provide a convenient means
for handling input and output of bytes. They are used, for example, when reading or writing
binary data. Character streams provide a convenient means for handling input and output of
characters.
14.4 READING FROM AND WRITING TO CONSOLE
In J ava, the only way to perform console input is to use a byte stream and an older code that uses
this approach persists. The preferred method of reading console input for J ava2 is to use a
character oriented stream.
In J ava, console input is accomplished by reading from system.in. To obtain a character based
stream that is attached to the console, you wrap System.in in a Buffered Reader object to create
a character stream.
Input Reader is the stream that is linked to the instance of BufferedReader that is being created.
Reader is an abstract class, one of its concrete subclasses is InputStream-Reader, which converts
bytes to characters. To obtain an InputStreamReader that is linked to System.in refers to an object
of type InputStream it can be used for inputStream. The following line of code creates a
BufferedReader that is connected to the keyboard:
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader
(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
To read a character we use BufferedReader read( ) int read( ) throws IOException. Each time
that read( ) is called, it reads a character from the input stream and returns it as an integer value.
It returns -1 when the end of the stream is encountered.
The following program demonstrates read( ):
import java.io.*;
class BRead
{
public static void main string args[ ])
throws IOException
{
char C;
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader (new InputStreamReader
System.in));
System.out.println ("Enter Characters, 'q' to quit");
do
{
c = (char) br read( );
System.out.println (c);
}
while (c ! = 'q')
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}
}
READING STRINGS
import java.io.*;
class BRreadlines
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
throws IOException
{
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader (new
InputStreamReader (System.in));
String str;
System.out.println ("Enter lines of text.");
System.out.println ("Enter stop" to Quit.");
do
{
str = br.readLine( );
System.out.println (str)
}
while (! str.equals ("stop"));
}
}
Writing Console Output
Console output is most easily accomplished using print( ) and println( ). These methods are
defined by the class PrintStream. Even though System.out is a byte stream, using it for simple
program output is still acceptable.
Because PrintStream is an output stream derived from OutputStream, it also implements the low
level method write( ). Thus, write( ) can be used to write to the console. The simplest form of
write( ) defined by PrintStream is:
void write (inbyteval) throws IOException.
// Demonstrate System.out.write( )
class WriteDemo
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
int b;
b = 'A';
System.out.write (b);
System.out.write ('\n');
}
}
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easier to use.
14.5 READING AND WRITING FILES
J ava provides a number of classes and methods that allow you to read and write files. In J ava all
files are byte oriented and J ava provides methods to read and write bytes from and to a file.
However, J ava allows you to wrap a byte oriented file stream within a character based object.
Two of the most often used stream classes are FileInputStream and FileOutputStream, which
create byte streams linked to files. To open a file, you simply create an object of one of these
classes, specifying the name of the file as an argument to the constructor. While both classes
support additional overridden constructors, the following are the forms:
FileInputStream (String filename) throws FileNotFoundException
FileOutputStream (String filename) throws FileNotFoundException
When you are done with a file you should close it by calling close( ). It is defined both in
FileOutputStream and FileInputStream.
void cloase( ) throws IOException
To read from a file you can use a version of read( ) that is defined in FileInputStream.
int read( ) throws IOException.
Each time that it is called, it reads a single byte from the file and returns the byte as an integer
value. read( ) returns -1 when the end of the file is encountered. It can throw an IOException.
/ * Display a text file
import java.io.*;
class showfile
{
public static void main (String s[ ]) throws
IOException
{
int i;
FileInputStream fis;
try
{
fis = new FileInputStream (s[ ]);
}
catch (FileNotFoundException e)
{
System.out.println ("File not found" + e);
return;
}
catch (ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException e)
{ System.out.println ("Usage : Showfile");
return;
}
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// read characters until EOF is encountered
do
{
i = fis.read( );
if (i ! = -1) System.out.println ((char););
}
while (i ! = -1);
fis.close( );
}
}
14.6 PRINTWRITER CLASS
Although using System.out to write to the console is still permissible under J ava, its use is
recommended mostly for debugging purposes or for simple programs. For real world programs
the recommended method of writing to the console, when using J ava, is through a PrintWriter
Stream. PrintWriter is one of the character based classes which defines several constructors.
The one we will use is
PrintWriter (OutputStream os, boolean flushonnewline)
Here, os is an object of type OutputStream, and flushonnewline controls whether J ava flushes
the output Stream every time a newline ('\n') character is output. If flushonnewline is true, flushing
automatically takes place. If false, flushing is not automatic.
PrintWriter supports the print( ) and println( ) methods for all types including Object. Thus, you
can use these methods in the same way as you use with System.out. If an argument is not of
simple type, the PrintWriter method calls the object's toString( ) method and then prints the result.
Example:
import java.io.*;
public class printwriterdeom
{
public static void main (String s[ ])
PrintWriter pw = new PrintWriter (System.out,true);
pw.println ("This is a String");
int i = -7;
pw.println (i);
double d = 4.5e-7;
pw.println (d);
}
}
Student Activity 1
1. What is a stream in J ava?
2. Describe various streams available in J ava.
3. Describe print writer class of java.
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14.7 FUNDAMENTALS OF APPLETS
Applets are small applications that are accessed from an Internet server, transported over the
Internet, automatically installed and run as part of a web document. After an applet arrives on the
client it has limited access to resources, so that it can produce an arbitrary multimedia user
interface and run complex computations without introducing the role of viruses or breaching data
integrity.
Example:
import java.awt.*;
import java.applet. *;
public class simpleApplet extends Applet
{
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
g.drawString ("A simple Applet", 20, 20);
}
}
The applet begins with two import statements, the first imports the Abstract Windows Toolkit
(AWT) classes. Applets interact with the user through the AWT, not through the console based
Input/ Output classes. The second import statement imports the applet package which contains
the class Applet. Every applet you create must be a subclass of Applet. The next line in the
program declares the class simpleApplet. This class must be declared as public because it will be
acessed by code that is outside the program.
Inside simpleApplet, paint( ) is declared. This method is defined by the AWT and must be
overriden by the applet. paint( ) is called each time the applet must redisplay its output. The
situation can occur for several reasons. For example, the window in which the applet is running
can be overwritten by another window and then uncovered. paint( ) method has one parameter of
type Graphics. This parameter contains the graphics context which describes the graphics
environment in which the applet is running.
Inside paint( ) is a call to drawString( ), which is a member of the Graphics class. This method
outputs a string beginning at the specified X, Y location.
void drawString (String msg, intX, intY)
X, and Y is the location on the screen where the drawString will display the message.
To view the output, a Java compatible web browser is needed. A small HTML file is needed where
inside the applet tag the J ava's class file is passed.
<applet code ="simpleApplet" width =200 height =60></applet>
Then we can also use the command C:\>appletviewer app.html
14.8 TRANSIENT AND VOLATILE MODIFIER
J ava defines two interesting type modifiers : transient and volatile. These modifiers are used to
handle somewhat specialized situations. When an instance variable is declared as transient, then
its value need, to persist when an object is stored.
For example
class T
{
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transient int a; // will not persist
int b; // will persist
}
Here if an object of type T is written to a persistent storage area, the contents of a would not be
saved, but the contents of b would. The volatile modifier tells the compiler that the variable
modified by volatile can be changed unexpectedly by other parts of your program. For efficiency
considerations, the real or master copy of the variable is updated at various times, such as when
a synchronized method is entered. In some cases, all that really matters is that the master copy of
a variable always reflects its current state. To ensure this, simply specify copy of a volatile
variable.
14.9 STRICTFP
J ava2 adds a new keyword to the J ava language, called strictfp. With the creation of J ava2, the
floating point computation model was relaxed slightly to make certain floating point computations
faster for certain processors, such as Pentium.
For example, the following fragment tells Java to use the original floating model for calculations in
all methods defined within Myclass.
strictfp class Myclass { //
14.10 NATIVE METHODS
Although it is rare, occasionally, you may want to call a subroutine that is written in a language
other than J ava. Typically, such a subroutine exists as an executable code for the CPU and
environment in which you are working, that is, native code.
J ava provides the native method precede the method with the native modifier, but do not define
any body for the method.
public native int meth( );
Most native methods are written in C. The mechanism used to integrate C code with a J ava
program is called J NI (J ava Native Interface)
An example:
public class nativedemo
{
int i;
public static void main (String s[ ])
{
native demo nd = new nativedemo( );
nd. i = 10;
System.out.println ("This is ob.i before the native
method" + ob.i);
ob.test( ); // call a native method.
System.out.println ("This is ob.i after the native
method :" + ob.i);
}
public native void test( );
static
{
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System.loadlibrary ("NativeDemo");
}
}
Notice that the test( ) method is declared as native and has no body . Also notice the static block.
A static block is executed only once when your program begins execution. The library is loaded
by the loadLibrary( ) method which is a part of the System class.
Static void loadLibrary (String filename). Here filename is a string that specifies the name of the
file that holds the Library. After you enter the program, compile it to produce nativedemo. Class.
Next you must use javah.exe to produce one file.
javah - jni NativeDemo
This command produces a header file called Nativedemo.h. This file must be included in the C file
that implements test( ).
14.11 PROBLEMS WITH NATIVE METHODS
Native methods seem to offer great promises, because they enable you to gain access to your
existing base of library routines. But they also introduce two significant problems:
Potential security risk Because a native method executes actual machine code, it can
gain access to any part of the host system. That is, native code is not confined to the J ava
execution environment.
Loss of Portability Because the native code is contained in a DLL, it must be present on
the machine that is executing the J ava program. Further, each native method is CPU and
operating system dependent, each DLL is inherently non portable. Thus, a J ava application
that uses native methods will be able to run only on a machine for which a compatible DLL
has been installed.
The use of native methods should be restricted, because they render your J ava programs non
portable and pose significant security risks.
Student Activity 2
1. What is an applet?
2. Describe various streams available in J ava.
3. Describe type modifiers available with J ava.
4. What are the problems associated with native methods?
14.12 SUMMARY
Streams, that is data passed, can be character or byte, as required.
Data can be read from disk, file and also can be written to disk or file, shown on the screen.
Some important classes are BufferedReader, InputStreamReader, OutputStreamWriter,
FileInputStream, FileOutputStream.
Important methods are read( ), close( ).
Printwriter class is a class where the object of it is used as similar to system.out.
Applets are small programs in J ava which can be used to run in the browser, basically use
GUI (Graphical User Interface) applications.
Some important keywords related to J ava are transient, volatile, strictfp, native methods.
14.13 KEYWORDS
Stream : An obstraction that either produces or consumes information.
Byte Stream : Provide a convenient means for handling input and output of bytes.
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Character Stream : Provide a convenient means for handling input and output of characters.
Inputer Reader : The stream that is linked to the instance of Buffered Reader that is being created.
Applet : Small application that are accessed from an Internet server, transported over the Internet,
automatically installed and run as part of a web document.
14.14 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. State whether the following are true or false:
a. There are two datatypes for handling input and output, that is, bytes and character.
b. Two important classes used for reading and writing are FileInputStream and
FileOutputStream.
c. PrintWriter class is a class used to print the data on the printer.
d. Applets are stand alone programs.
e. When the value need not persist then we use volatile modifier.
2. Write something about strictfp, native and transient modifier.
3. What is an Applet? How do we run it?
4. Write an HTML code for running applet.
Answers to Review Questions
1. (a) True (b) True (c) False (d) True (e) True
14.15 FURTHER READINGS
E. Balaguruswami, Programming with Java, Tata McGraw-Hill.
Davis, Stephen R., Learn Java Now, Microsoft Press.
Naughton, Patrick, The Java Hand Book, OSborne McGraw-Hill.
Sams.net, J ava unleased.
Herbert Schildt, The Complete Reference Java 2, Tata McGraw-Hill.
UNIT
15
HANDLING STRINGS
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Define string constructor
Find string length
Perform various operations on string
Use extract character and string comparison methods
Search / modify character / string
Change case of characters
Describe String Buffer
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
15.1 Introduction
15.2 String Constructor
15.3 String Length
15.4 Operations on Strings
15.5 Extract Character Methods
15.6 String Comparison Methods
15.7 Searching and Modifying
15.8 Data Conversion and ValueOf( ) Methods
15.9 Changing Case of Characters
15.10 String Buffer
15.11 Summary
15.12 Keywords
15.13 Review Questions
15.14 Further Readings
15.1 INTRODUCTION
String is probably the most commonly used class in J ava's class library. The reason for this is that
strings are a very important part of programming. J ava provides two classes for handling strings.
These classes exist in the java.lang package which is automatically imported in all J ava classes. In
this unit you will be able to create strings in the program and use different methods of String
class, e.g. String length function, Substring extraction functions, String comparison functions,
Uppercase and Lowercase conversion functions, conversions from primitive type to String type,
Appending String etc. You will also study String Buffer class and will also be able to differentiate
between String Class and String Buffer class.
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15.2 STRING CONSTRUCTOR
A string is a sequence of characters. J ava API provides a String class and StringBuffer class to
help you manipulate strings. Literal string values in J ava source code are turned into String
objects by the compiler. Java implements strings as object of type String. The String class supports
several constructors. To create an empty string you can call the default constructor:
String S = new String( );
To create a copy of the specified string use the following constructor:
String s = new String ("UPTEC");
To create a string initialized by an array of characters;
Char chars[ ] = {'a', 'b', 'c'};
String S = new String (chars)
This constructor initializes with the string "abc"
To create a String initialized by subrange of an array:
Char chars[ ] = {'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f'};
String S = new String (chars, 2, 3);
This initializes S with the characters code.
You can create a String initialized by String object.
char c[ ] = {'J', 'a', 'v', 'a'};
String s1 = new String (c);
String s2 = new String (s1);
15.3 STRING LENGTH
To obtain number of characters that a string contains use the length( ) method.
char charsp[ ] = {'a', 'b', 'c'};
String s = new String (chars);
System.out.println (s.length( ));
15.4 OPERATIONS ON STRINGS
String literals
You can create a String instance using a String literal. For each string literal in your program, J ava
automatically constructs a string object.
For e.g. :
String s2 = "abc" / / use String Literal
You can use string literal at any place where you can use a String object. For e.g.
System.out.println ("abc".length( ));
String Concatenation
For convenience in working with strings, J ava also uses the +and +=operators to indicate
concatenation. '+' operator concatenates two strings and produces a string object as the
result.
String str1 = "UPTEC"
String str2 = "LTD"
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String str3 = str1 + str2;
String S = "Four:" + 2 + 2 // display s Four:22
String S1 = "Four:" + (2+2) // display Four4
String Conversion and toString( )
The root of the J ava object hierarchy, the Object class, has a toString( ) method that returns a
descriptive string. Every class implements toString( ) because it is defined by Object. This default
toString( ) method produces a rather cryptic result, so, many of the standard library classes
implement toString( ) method which gives more appropriate result. For most classes that you
create, you need to override the toString( ) method.
Example:
class Box
{
double width;
double height;
double depth;
Box (double w, double h, double d)
{
width = w;
height = h;
depth = d;
}
public String toString( )
{
return "Dimensions are" + width + "by" + depth + "by" +
height + ".";
}
class toStringDemo
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
Box b = new Box (10, 12, 14);
String S = "Box b:" + b;
System.out.println (b);
System.out.println (S);
}
}
Output: Dimensions are 10 by 14 by 12
Box b : Dimensions are 10 by 14 by 12. toString( ) method is automatically invoked when a Box
object is used in a concatenation or println.
Student Activity 1
1. What is a string?
2. Describe various constructors supported by class string.
3. How will you find the length of a string?
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4. How will you concatenate two strings?
5. Describe to string( ) method of object class of J ava.
15.5 EXTRACT CHARACTER METHODS
charAt( )
To extract a single character from a String.
char charAt(int where), here, where is the index of the character
char ch;
ch = "abc".charAt(1); // Assign "b" to ch.
getchars( )
To extract more than one character at a time,
void getchars(int sourceStart, int sourceEnd, char target[ ], int
targetStart)
where sourceStart specifies the index of the beginning of the subString, and sourceEnd specifies
the index that is one past the end of the desired string.
String S = "This is a demo of the getChar method";
int start = 10;
int end = 14;
char buf [ ] = new char [end-start];
S.getchars(start, end, buf, 0);
System.out.println(buf);
Output : demo
getBytes( )
Stores the characters in an array of bytes. The general form of getByte( ) is
byte[ ] getBytes( )
getBytes( ) is most useful when you are exporting a string value into an environment that does
not support 16 bit Unicode.
toCharArray( )
Is used to convert all the characters in a String Object into a character array.
char[ ] tocharArray( )
15.6 STRING COMPARISON METHODS
The string class includes several methods that compare strings or substrings within strings.
equals( )
Compares two strings for equality.
boolean equals(Object str)
Here, str is the object compared with the invoking StringObject
String S1 = "Hello"
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String S2 = "Hello"
System.out.println (S1 + "equals" + S2 + S1.equals (S2));
Output : Hello equals Hello true
regionMatches( )
This method compares a specific region inside a string with another specific region in another
string.
boolean regionMatches(int startindex, String str2, int str2Startindex, int numchars)
where, startindex specifies the index at which the region begins with the invoking String Object,
Str2 specifies the string being compared,
Str2Startindex specifies the index at which the comparison within Str2 starts,
numchars specifies the length of substring to be compared.
boolean regionMatches(boolean ignoreCase, int stindex, String str2, int str2stindex, int numchars)
If ignorecase is true, comparision will not be case sensitive.
equalsIgnoreCase( )
To compare two strings for equality, that ignore case difference, use the following :
boolean equalsIgnoreCase (String str) Here str is a string object compared with the invoking
string
String s1 = "hello";
String S2 = "Hello";
System.out.println (s1 + "equals" + s2 + s1.equalsIgnoreCase);
Output : hello equals Hello >> True.
equals( ) v/s = =
equals( ) method compares the characters inside a String object. The ==operator compares two
object references to see whether they refer to the same instance.
Example :
String S1 = "Hello"
String S2 = "Hello"
System.out.println (S1 + "equals" + S2 + S1.equals(S2));
System.out.prinln (S1 + "= =" +S2 + (S1 = = S2));
Output : Hello equals Hello >> true
Hello = = Hello >> false
The contents of the two string objects are identical but they have different object references.
startsWith( ) / endsWith( )
The startsWith( ) determines whether a given string begins with a specified string. The endsWith()
determines whether the string in question ends with a specified string.
boolean startsWith (String str)
boolean endsWith (String str)
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boolean startsWith (String str, int startIndex)
e.g. : "UPTEC LTD".endsWith("LTD"); // true
"UPTEC LTD".startsWith("UPTEC"); // true
The second version of startsWith lets you specify a starting point.
compareTo( )
This method is used to find whether the string is less than, equal to, or greater than the next. A
string is less than another if it comes before the other in dictionary order.
int compareTo(String str)
Here, str is string being compared with invoking string.
The result may be.
<0 The invoking string is less than str.
>0 The invoking string is greater than str.
=0 The two strings are equal.
compareTo( ) takes into account uppercase and lowercase letters.
int compareToIgnoreCase(String str) returns the same results as compareTo( ), except
that the case differences are ignored.
Student Activity 2
1. Describe the function of the following methods :
(a) charAt( )
(b) getChars( )
(c) getBytres( )
(d) tcharArray( )
(e) equals( )
(f) region Matches( )
(g) equals IgnoreCase( )
(h) compareTo( )
2. Differentiate between the following methods :
(a) equals( ) and ==
(b) startWith( ) and endswith( )
15.7 SEARCHING AND MODIFYING
indexOf( )
Searches for the first occurrence of a character/string and returns the index at which the character
or substring was found or -1 on failure.
int indexOf(int ch)
e.g. : Strings S = "UPTEC LTD";
System.out.println("IndexOf(t)" + S.indexOf ('T'));
Output : IndexOf (t) = 2
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lastIndexOf( )
Searches for the last occurence of a character/string
int lastIndexOf(int ch)
System.out.println("lastIndexOf(t) = "+s.lastIndexOf ('T'));
Output : lastIndexOf(t) = 7
substring( )
Returns substring that begins with startIndex and ends with endIndex.
String substring(int startIndex, int endIndex);
Here startIndex specifies the index at which the substring will begin and endIndex specifies the
stopping point.
String S = "UPTEC LTD";
System.out.println(S.substring (6, 8))
Output : LTD
concat( )
You can concatenate two strings.
String concat(String str)
This method creates a new object that contains the invoking string with the contents of str
appended to the end.
e.g.: String S1 = "One"
String S2 = S1.concat("two");
Output : S2 will contain "Onetwo"
replace( )
Replaces all occurrences of one character with other.
String replace(char original, char replacement)
Here, original specifies the character to be replaced by character specified by replacement.
String S = "Hello".replace ('l', 'w')
Output : "Hewwo"
trim( )
Returns a copy of the invoking string from which any leading and trailing white space has been
removed.
String trim( )
String S = "HelloWorld ".trim( );
Output : "HelloWorld"
15.8 DATA CONVERSION AND VALUEOF( ) METHODS
valueOf( ) is a static method that is overloaded within String class for all built in types and also
object.ValueOf converts data from other type to String.
static String valueOf(long num);
static String valueOf(Object ob);
static String valueOf(double num);
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15.9 CHANGING CASE OF CHARACTERS
The method toLowerCase( ) converts all the characters in a string from uppercase to lowercase.
Nonalphabetical characters, such as digits, are unaffected.
String toLowerCase( )
String toUpperCase( )
e.g. : String S = "This is a test";
String upper = S.toUpperCase( ); // THIS IS A TEST
String lower = S.toLowerCase( ); // this is a test
15.10 STRING BUFFER
String represents fixed length, immutable character sequences. StringBuffer represents growable
and writeable character sequences.
String message = "Hello World";
message = message + "!!";
A StringBuffer is like the String datatype but it has methods for modifying the contents of the
StringBuffer. When the J ava compiler encounters code in the preceding example, it rewrites it as
follows :
message = new StringBuffer(message).append ("!!").toString( )
The compiler converts the original message into a StringBuffer, appends the exclamation points
to the StringBuffer, and then converts the StringBuffer back into a String.
Constructors
StringBuffer defines the following three constructors:
StringBuffer( ), StringBuffer(int size), StringBuffer (String str)
The default constructor reserves room for 16 characters. The second constructor explicitly sets
the size of the buffer. Third constructor sets the initial content of StringBuffer object and reserves
room for 16 more characters.
StringBuffer Class Method
length( ) returns current length of a StringBuffer.
e.g.: StringBuffer Sb = new StringBuffer("Hello");
System.out.println ("Length =" + Sb.length( ));
Output : Length = 5
capacity( ) method finds out total allocated characters.
System.out.println ("Capacity =" + Sb.capacity( ));
Output : Capacity = 21
because room for 16 additional characters is automatically added.
setLength( ) method sets the length of the buffer.
void setLength(int len)
Here, len specifies length of the buffer.
e.g. : StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer("Hello");
sb.setLength(2);
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System.out.println("sb = " +sb);
Output : sb = He
If you call setLength( ) with value less than the current length( ) then characters beyond the new
length will be lost.
charAt( ) method obtains a single character from a StringBuffer.
char charAt (int)
e.g. : StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer("Hello");
System.out.println ("CharacterAt(1) = "+sb.charAt(1));
Output : CharacterAt(1) = e
setCharAt( ) sets the value of a character within stringBuffer.
sb.setCharAt (1, "i");
System.out.println ("Character at(1) =" sb.charAt(1));
Output : CharacterAt(1) = i
getChars( ) is used to copy substring of a String Buffer into an array.
void getChars (int sourceStart, int sourceEnd, char target[ ], int targetStart)
sourceStart - Index of beginning of substring.
sourceEnd - Index of one past the end of the desired substring.
target [ ] - Array which receives output.
targetStart - Index within target at which the substring will be copied.
append( ) method concatenates the string representation of any other type of data to the end
of invoking StringBuffer object. This method is overloaded for all the built-in types and
object.
e.g. : StringBuffer append(String str)
StringBuffer append(int num)
insert( ) method one string into another. It is overloaded to accept values of all types, object.
StringBuffer insert(int index, String str)
StringBuffer insert(int index, char ch)
index specifies the index at which point the string or char will be inserted into the invoking
StringBuffer object.
e.g. : StringBuffer sb = "I Java!";
sb.insert (2, "like");
Output : I like Java !
reverse( ) method reverses the characters within a StringBuffer object, and returns the object on
which it was called
StringBuffer reverse( )
e.g. : StringBuffer S = new StringBuffer ("abcdef");
s.reverse( )
System.out.println (s);
Output : fedcba
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replace( ) method replaces one set of characters with another set inside a StringBuffer Object.
StringBuffer replace (int startIndex, int endIndex, String str);
The substring being replaced is specified by the indexes startIndex and endIndex.
e.g.: StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer ("This is a test");
sb.replace (5, 7, "was");
Thus, the substring at startIndex through endIndex-1 is replaced.
Student Activity 3
1. Describe the function of the following methods :
(a) IndexOf( )
(b) Last IndesOf( )
(c) Substring( )
(d) Concat( )
(e) Replace( )
(f) Trim( )
(g) ValueOf( )
2. What is StringBubber? Write various characters available with StringBuffer?
3. Describe various methods available with String Buffer.
15.11 SUMMARY
A string is a sequence of characters. It can contain as many characters as you want.
A string is a read-only object; its value cannot be changed after creation.
The String class and StringBuffer classes are part of java.lang package which is automatically
imported into all J ava classes.
Different operations can be performed on String object such as length( ), trim( ),
toUpperCase( ), toLowerCase( ) etc.
You can compare two strings using equals( ) method.
Primitive values can be converted into string using valueOf( ) function.
You can change the contents of existing string using StringBuffer class.
StringBuffer provides a number of overloaded insert( ) methods for inserting various types
of data at a particular location in the stringBuffer.
Some of the methods of StringBuffer class are length( ), capacity( ), charAt( ), append( ),
reverse( ) etc.
String and StringBuffer objects deal with 16 bit unicode characters to support international
alphabets.
15.12 KEYWORDS
String : A sequence of characters.
to String( ) : Method that returns a descriptive string.
CharAT( ) : Method used to extract a single character from a string.
getChars( ) : Method used to extract more than one character at a time.
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Handling Strings getBytes( ) : Method used to store the characters in an array of bytes.
equals( ) : Method that compares two strings for equality.
equals IgnoreCase( ) : Method that compares two strings for equality, that ignore case difference.
startsWith( ) : Determines whether a given string begins with a specified string.
compareTo( ) : Method used to final whether the string is less than, equal to, or greater than the
next.
concat( ) : Method used to concatenate two Strings.
replace( ) : Method used to replace all occurances of one character with other.
valueOf( ) : A static method that is overloaded within string class to convert data from other type
to string.
StringBuffer : Represents growable and writeable character sequences.
15.13 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. How many String objects are created in the following code ?
String x, y, z;
x = "UPTEC";
y = x;
z = x + y;
2. What is the output of each code ?
a. String S = new String ("UPTEC");
if (s = = "UPTEC")
System.out.println ("Equal A");
if (s.equals ("UPTEC")
System.out.println ("Equal B");
b. int num = 1234567;
system.out.println (String.valueOf(num).charAt(3));
c. String s1 = "Sunday";
String s2 = "Monday";
System.out.println (s1.concat(s2).subString(4, 8));
d. String s3 = " Monday ";
System.out.println (s3.trim( ).indexOf("day"));
3. How does String class differ from the StringBuffer class?
4. Which of the following will equate to true ?
a. s1 = = s2 (b) s1 = s2 (c) s3 = = s2 (d) s1.equals(s2) (e)
s3.equals(s1)
5. Suppose that s1 and s2 are two strings. Which of the statements or expressions are correct?
a. String s3 = s1 + s2;
b. String s3 = s1 - s2;
c. s1 < = s2
d. s1.compareTo(s2);
e. int m = s1.length( );
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6. Write a program to reverse a string using StringBuffer class.
7. Write a method called
delete (String str, int m) that returns the input string with the m
th
element removed.
8. Write a program which will count all occurences of a particular word.
9. Write a program which will rewrite the string in the alphabetical order. For example, the word
"UPTEC" should be written as "CEPTU".
10. Fill in the blanks :
a. ................... represents fixed length, immutable character sequences.
b. ................... represents growable and writeable character sequences.
c. ................... method replaces all occurences of one character with other.
d. ................... and ................... methods are used for changing case of characters.
e. To creat an empty string, ................... constructor is called.
Answers to Review Questions :
1. 2 4. (d) and (e) 5. (a), (d) and (c)
10. (a) String (b) StringBuffer (c) Replace( )
(d) to Lower Case( ), to Upper Case( ) (e) default.
15.14 FURTHER READINGS
E. Balaguruswami, Programming with Java, Tata McGraw-Hill.
Davis, Stephen R., Learn Java Now, Microsoft Press.
Naughton, Patrick, The Java Hand Book, OSborne McGraw-Hill.
Sams.net, J ava unleased.
Herbert Schildt, The Complete Reference Java 2, Tata McGraw-Hill.
UNIT
16
EXPLORING JAVA.LANG
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Desire wrapper classes and simple type wrappers
Describe abstract process class
Describe runtime class and memory management
Describe System Class
Understand Environment Properties
Define Clone( ) and Clonable( ) Interface
Define Class and Classloader
Describe Math Class
Describe Thread, ThreadGroup and Runnable Interface
Describe Security Manager
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
16.1 Introduction
16.2 Wrapper Classes and Simple TypeWrappers
16.3 Void
16.4 Abstract Process Class
16.5 Runtime Class and Memory Management
16.6 Other Program Execution
16.7 System Class
16.8 Environment Properties
16.9 Using Clone( ) and Clonable( ) Interface
16.10 Class and Classloader
16.11 Math Class
16.12 Thread, ThreadGroup and Runnable Interface
16.13 Throwable Class
16.14 Security Manager
16.15 The java.lang.ref and java.lang.reflect Packages
16.16 Summary
16.17 Keywords
16.18 Review Questions
16.19 Further Readings
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16.1 INTRODUCTION
The java.lang package is a collection of classes which gets special treatment because some of its
classes are so low level that they are considered part of the J ava language. Since J ava adheres to
'C' philosophy of keeping a language as simple as possible, it too relies on an external collection
of methods for anything beyond the simplest data processing or flow controls. The following
types of classes are contained in java.lang package.
Type wrapper classes String support classes
A math library class Multithreading support classes
Low level system-access classes Error and exception classes
In the previous unit you studied String support classes, Multithreading classes and Exception
classes. In this unit you should be able to use Type Wraper classes such as Boolean, Character,
Integer etc. to convert simple primitives to object and object to primitives. You will also learn to
create and execute other heavy weight processes. You will also learn to manipulate date and time
objects using "System" class, "ThreadGroup" class "Math" class and its different methods.
16.2 WRAPPER CLASSES AND SIMPLE TYPE
WRAPPERS
J ava uses simple type, such as int, char for performance reasons. They are passed by value and
cannot be passed by reference. Also there is no way for two methods to refer to same instance of
int. To address this need, J ava provides classes that correspond to each of the simple types.
These classes are known as type Wrappers. Wrapper classes provide variety of functions related
to primitives. The static and final variables of these classes provide useful constants, such as
MAX_VALUE, MIN_VALUE for Integer, Byte, Character, Short, Long, Float, Double class. Another
use of wrapper classes is to treat a primitive as an object. For example, J ava defines a class called
Vector that implements a resizable array of objects. You can not store primitive types in a vector;
for this you need Wrapper class. For example, to store variable of type int in a vector, you need to
create an Integer object for each int variable. Primitive data types may be converted into object
types by using the wrapper classes contained in the java.lang package. For example :
Simple Type Wrapper Class
boolean Boolean
char Character
double Double
int Integer
long Long
float Float
Each wrapper class provides a static method to convert a string to the corresponding primitivetype.
Number
The abstract class Number defines a superclass that is implemented by the classes that wrap the
numeric type bytes, short, int, long, float and double. Number has abstract methods that returnthe
value of the object in each of the different number formats. E.g. doubleValue( ) returns the
valueas double.
Methods byte byteValue( )
double doubleValue( )
float floatValue( )
int intValue( )
long longValue( )
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Float, Byte, Short, Integer and Long.
Double and Float
These are wrappers for floating-point values of type double and float respectively. The
constructors for float are:
Float(double num)
Float(float num)
Float(String str) throws NumberFormatException
Double(double num)
Double(String str) throws NumberFormat Exception
e.g.: Double D = new Double (10.0);
Float F = new Float (5.3);
There are number of methods defined in the Double and Float wrapper classes.
e.g.: int compareTo (Float f)
String toString( )
float floatValue( )
double doubleValue( )
double d = DoubleVal.doubleValue( ) // object to primitive double
float f = Floatval.floatValue( ) / / object to primitive float
int i = FloatVal.intValue( ) // Object to primitive int
float f = Float.parseFloat (STring str) // Returns the float
equivalent of the number contained in string.
Byte, Short, Integer and Long
These are the wrappers for byte, short, int, long integer types respectively.
Their constructors are:
Byte (byte num)
Byte (string str) throws NumberFormat Exception
Short (short num)
Short (String str)
Integer (int num)
Integer (string str)
Long (long num)
Long (String str)
Some common methods are :
parseInt( ), parseLong( ), toString( ), floatValue( ),
doubleValue( ), ValueOf( ), intValue( ), longValue( )
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Conversion from String to Object
e.g.: Integer IntVal = Integer.ValueOf (str); / / string to Integer Object
Long LongVal = Long.ValueOf (str) / / string to Long Object
Conversion from Object to corresponding primitives :
int i = I.intValue( ) // where I is IntegerObject
float f = F.floatValue( ) // where F is Float object
Conversion of numeric string to Primitive Number :
int i = Integer.parseInt (Str)
long l = long.parseLong (Str)
Other Methods defined by Integer Class
String S =Integer.toBinaryString(int num) Returns String that contains
binaryequivalent of num
String S =Integer.toHexString(int num) Returns a String that contains
Hex equivalent of num
String S =Integer.toOctalString(int num) Returns a string that contains
octal equivalent of num
Other methods defined by Long class
String S =Long.toBinaryString (long num) Returns a String that contains the
binary equivalent of num
String S =Long.toHexString (long num) Returns a String that contains
the Hex equivalent of num
String S =Long.toOctalString (long num) Returns a string that contains
the octal equivalent of num
Commonly used Constants defined by Long, Double, Float, Integer, Byte, Short
MAX_VALUE maximum positive Value
MIN_VALUE minimum negative Value
Example:
import java.io.*;
class ABC
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
throws IOException
{
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader (new Input StreamReader
(System.in));
String str;
int i, sum = 0
do
{
str = br.readln( );
try
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{
i = Integer.parseInt (str);
}
catch (NumberFormatException e)
{
i = 0;
}
System.out.println ("String" + Integer.toString(i));
System.out.println ("Binary String"
+ Integer.toBinary String(i))
System.out.println ("Octal String" +
Integer.toOctalString(i));
System.out.println ("HexString"
+ Integer.toHexString (i));
Sum = Sum+i;
System.out.println ("Current Sum" + Sum);
}
while (i ! = 0);
}
}
The above program gets the input. If the input is a number then it displays string equivalent of
number's binary, octal and Hex equivalent. Then it accumulates the number into sum and displays
current sum. If input is not a number, it raises an exception and the number is considered as zero
and execution continues.
Character
Character is a simple wrapper around a char. The constructor for character is:
Character(char ch)
Here ch specifies character data. To obtain the char value contained in character object call
charValue( ) as follows
char CharObj charValue( );
Some commonly used methods are:
Method Description
static boolean isDigit(char ch) Returns true if ch is a digit otherwise it returns false.
static boolean isLetter(char ch) Returns true if ch is a letter otherwise it returns false.
static boolean isLowerCase(char ch) Returns true if ch is a lowercase letter otherwise it
returns false.
static boolean is SpaceChar(char ch) Returns true if ch is space character otherwise it
returns false.
static char isTitleCase(char ch) Returns true if ch is title case character otherwise
it returns false.
static char isUpperCase(char ch) Returns true if ch is uppercase character otherwise it
returns false.
char toLowerCase(char ch) Returns lowercase equivalent of ch.
char toUpperCase(char ch) Returns uppercase equivalent of ch.
char toTitleCase(char ch) Returns title case equivalent of ch.
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Boolean
Boolean is a wrapper class for boolean which is mostly useful when you want to pass a boolean
variable by reference. It contains two constants 'TRUE' and 'FALSE' which define true and false
Boolean objects.
Constructors are
Boolean(boolean boolValue) // boolValue must either be true or false.
Boolean(String boolString) // boolString either contains "true" or "false".
Some Common methods in Boolean Class are
boolean equals(Object boolObj)
Returns true if invoking object is equivalent to boolObj.
String toString( ) Returns the string equivalent of the invoking object.
boolean booleanValue( ) Returns boolean equivalent of Boolean object.
16.3 VOID
It is a "type Wrapper" for primitive type void. The void class has one field, TYPE, which holds a
reference to the class object for type void. You do not create instance of this class.
Student Activity 1
1. What is a wrapper class?
2. List some simple type wrappers.
3. How will you convert.
a. a string to object
b. a numeric string to primitive number
c. an object to corresponding primitives
4. Describe some commonly used constants.
5. Describe the following :
a. Character
b. Boolean
c. Void
16.4 ABSTRACT PROCESS CLASS
Class Process provides access to stdin stdout, stderr for executing program's process; as well as
return value of the program. It encapsulates a process. It is used primarily as a superclass for the
type of objects created by exec( ) in Runtime class. Some common methods are
void destroy( ) Terminates the process.
int exitValue( ) Returns an exit code obtained from a subclass.
int waitfor( ) Returns the exit code returned by the process. This method does not
return until the process on which it is called terminates.
16.5 RUNTIME CLASS AND MEMORY MANAGEMENT
The system and Runtime classes are designed to encapsulate the necessary connection to
underlying OS. The Runtime class encapsulates the run time environment. You cannot instantiate
a Runtime Object. You can get a reference to the current Runtime object by calling the static
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Exploring Java.Lang method Runtime.getRuntime( ). Once you obtain a reference to the current Runtime object, you
can call several methods that control the state and behavior of J VM.
Some methods defined in Runtime class are
Process exec(String progName)
Process exec (String ComlineArray [ ]);
Executes the program specified by progName or given by Command line array.
long freeMemory( )
Returns the approximate number of bytes of free memory available to Java Runtime system.
void exit(int exitcode)
Halts the execution and returns the value of exitcode. '0' indicates normal termination, all
other values indicate some form of error.
void gc( )
Initiates garbage collection.
void loadLibrary(String libname)
Loads the dynamic library whose name is associated with libraryName.
long totalMemory( )
Returns the total number of bytes of memory available to the program.
Although J ava provides automatic garbage collection, sometimes you will want to know how
large the object heap is and how much of it is left. To obtain these values, use totalMemory and
freeMemory methods. J ava's garbagecollector runs periodically to recycle unused objects.
However, sometimes you will want to collect discarded objects prior to the collector's next round.
You can run garbage collector by calling gc( ) method.
16.6 OTHER PROGRAM EXECUTION
You can use J ava to execute other heavyweight processes on your multitasking operating system.
The exec( ) method allows you to name the program you want to run.
class ExecDemo
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
Runtime r = Runtime.getRuntime( );
Process p = null;
try
{
p = r.exec ("notepad");
}
catch (Execption e)
{
System.out.println ("Error executing notepad");
}
}
}
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16.7 SYSTEM CLASS
The system class automatically creates a standard input, standard output and standard error
output stream, named system.in, system.out, and system.err. System class holds a collection of
static methods and variables. Some common methods of System Class are :
static void arraycopy (object source, int sourceStart, Object target, int targetst, int size)
static long currentTimeMillis( )
Returns current time in terms of milliseconds since midnight J anuary 1,1970
static int exit(int exitcode)
Halts execution and returns the value of exitcode to parent process. It stops the J VM and
by convention it returns nonzero status that indicates that an error has occurred.
static void gc( )
Initiates garbage collection.
System.gc( ) actually calls the Runtime object's gc( ) method.
static void runFinalization( )
Initiates calls to the finalize( ) method of unused but not yet recycled objects.
NOTE The exit method should not be called in a Java applet. It is Webbrowser's responsibility
to halt the J VM as needed.
CurrentTimeMillis( )
It returns the current time in terms of milliseconds since midnight J anuary 1, 1970. Use this
method to find out how long various parts of your program take to execute.
class Elapsed
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
long start, end;
System.out.println ("Timing a for loop for 0 to
1000000");
Start = System.currentTimeMillis( ); // get startingtime
for (int i = 0; i < 1000000; i++);
end = System.currentTimeMillis( ); // get endingtime
System.out.println ("Elapsed time:" + (end-start));
}
}
arraycopy( )
static void arraycopy(Object source, int sourceStart, Object target, int targetStart, int size)
Here the array to be copied is passed in "source" and the index at which the copy begins is
passed as "sourceStart". The array "target" will receive the copy at the index passed as targetStart,
size is the number of elements that are copied.
Example:
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class point
{
int x; int y;
point (int a, int b)
{
x = a;
y = b;
}
}
MemoryModel after an array declaration, point points [ ];
points null
Memory Model after points =new point [2];
Memory Model after
points [0] =new point (1, 2)
Memory Model after
point points2[ ] =points;
To actually copy the values stored in an array into another array use -->
points2 =new point [points.length];
System.arraycopy(points, 0, points2, 0, points.length);
2
null
null
length
points[0]
points[1]
points
2
null
null
length
points[0]
points[1]
points
2
null
points
1
2
x
y
2
null
points
1
2
x
y
2
null
points
1
2
x
y
points2
2
null
points
1
2
x
y
points2
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This method can be used to copy quickly an array of any type from one place to another. For
example :
class ACDemo
{
Static byte a[ ] = {65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70};
Static byte b[ ] = {77, 77, 77, 77, 77, 77,};
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
System.out.prinln ("a=" + new String (a));
System.out.prinln ("b=" + new String (b));
System.arraycopy (a, 0, b, 0, a.length);
System.out.prinln ("a=" + new String (a));
System.out.prinln ("b=" + new String (b));
System.arraycopy (a, 0, a, 1, a.length-1);
System.arraycopy (b, 1, b, 0, b.length-1);
System.out.prinln ("a=" + new String (a));
System.out.prinln ("b=" + new String (b));
}
}
Output : a = ABCDEF
b = MMMMMM
a = ABCDEF
b = ABCDEF
a = AABCDE
b = BCDEFF
void setErr(Print Stream eStream)
the method sets the standard err stream to Stream
void setIn(InputStream iStream)
the method sets the standard in stream to iStream
void setOut(PrintStream oStream)
the method sets the standard out stream to oStream
16.8 ENVIRONMENT PROPERTIES
You can obtain the value of various environment variables by calling the System.getProperty( )
method.
2
null
2 null
1
2 y
x
points
points2
2
null
2 null
1
2 y
x
points
points2
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Exploring Java.Lang For example :
To display the path to the current user directory.
System.out.println(System.getProperty ("user.dir"));
Other commonly used Properties are:
java.class.path file.separator
java.home line.separator
java.version os.name.
user.name os.version
user.home pat.separator
Student Activity 2
1. Describe some of the methods available with Abstract process class.
2. What is the function of Runtime class?
3. Describe some methods available in Runtime class.
4. What is the function of System class?
5. Describe the function of the following methods :
a. Current Time Millis( )
b. Arraycopy( )
16.9 USING CLONE( ) AND CLONABLE( ) INTERFACE
A clone is simply an exact copy of the original. The Clone( ) method generates a duplicate of the
object on which it is called. Only classes that implement cloneable interface can be cloned. They
include Vector, HashMap and BitSet class. If you call clone( ) on a class that does not implement
cloneable, a CloneNotSupportedException is thrown. Cloning is potentially dangerous when
object being cloned contains a reference variable. For example, if an object opens an Input/
Output stream and is then cloned, two objects will be capable of operating on the same stream. If
one of these objects closes the stream, the other object might still attempt to write to it, causing
an error.
For an array of objects, the value stored in array are references to the objects. To duplicate an
array with its component object, elements use clone( ) method of object class in conjunction with
arraycopy( ) method.
Vector val1[ ] = new Vector [10];
Vector val2[ ] = new Vector [val1.length];
System.arrayCopy (val1, 0, val2, 0, val1.length);
for (int i = 0; i < val1.length; i++)
val2.[i] - (Vector) val1[i].clone( );
For the classes which do not implement cloneable interface, you need to give the following
command to fully duplicate the array:
points2[0] = new point(points[0].x, points[0].y);
16.10 CLASS AND CLASSLOADER
Class encapsulates the runtime state of an object or interface. You can not declare a Class object,
they are created automatically when classes are loaded. Class methods are useful when run-time
information about an object is required. Some common methods defined by Class are:
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static Class ForName(String name)
Returns a Class object given its complete name.
Field[ ] getFields( )
Returns a Field object for all the public fields of this class.
Method[ ] getMethods( )
Returns a Method object for all the public methods of this class.
String getName( )
Returns the complete name of the class or interface of the invoking object.
Class getSuperClass ( )
Returns the superclass of the invoking object. The return value is null if invoking object is
of type Object.
Example: class X
{
int a;
int b;
}
class y extends x
{
double c;
}
class ABC
{
public static void main (String args[ ]
{
X x = new X( );
Y y = new Y( );
Class obj;
obj = y.getClass( );
System.out.println ('Y is of
type"+obj.getName( ));
obj = obj.getSuperclass( );
System.out.println ("Y's superclass
is"+obj.getsuperclass( ));
}
}
Classloader
To execute J ava bytecodes, the J VM uses a classloader to fetch the bytecodes from a disk or a
network. A J ava-enabled browser then starts up the J VM and passes the location of the applet
class file to the classloader. Each classfile knows the names of any additional class files that it
requires. This may require the classloader to make a number of additional classloading operations
before the applet starts. If you create a subclass that extends ClassLoader, it allows you to load
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Exploring Java.Lang classes in some way other than the way they are normally loaded by the J ava run-time system.
Some common methods defined by classloader are :
abstract Class loadClass(String name, boolean callResolveClass)
An implementation of this abstract method must load a class given its name and call
resolveClass( ) if callResolveClass is true.
final void resolveClass(Class obj)
The class referred to by obj is resolved i.e., its name is entered into the class name space.
Normally the J VM loads class from the local file system in a platform dependent manner from the
directory defined by classpath variable. Some classes may originate from other sources such as
network. Method defineclass( ) converts array of bytes into instance of class "Class". Instance
of newly defined class can be created using newInstance method.
16.11 MATH CLASS
This class contains all the floating point functions that are used for geometry and trigonometry
as well as some general purpose methods.
static double sin (double arg)
Returns the sin of the angle specified by arg in radians.
static double Cos (double arg)
Returns the cosine of the angle specified by arg in radians.
static double tan (double arg)
Returns the tangent of the angle specified by arg in radians.
static double exp (double arg)
Returns e to the arg.
static double log (double arg)
Returns the natural logarithm of arg.
static double pow (double y, double x)
Returns y raised to the x.
static double sqrt (double arg)
Returns square root of arg.
static int abs (int arg)
Returns the absolute value of arg.
static double ceil (double arg)
Returns the smallest whole number greater than or equal to arg.
static double floor (double arg)
Returns the largest whole number less than or equal to arg.
static int max (int x, int y)
Returns the maximum of x and y.
static int min (int x, int y)
Returns the minimum of x and y.
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static int round (double arg)
Returns arg rounded up to nearest int.
static double IEEEremainder (double dividend, double divisor)
Returns remainder of divided/divisor.
static double random( )
Returns a random number between 0 and 1.
static double to Radians (double angle)
Converts angle in degree to radians
static double to Degrees (double angle)
converts angle in radians to degree.
Math defines two double constants
E =2.72 and PI =3.14
java.math package also contains BigDecimal and BigInteger classes for arbitrary precision
arithmetic. The BigDecimal methods are used primarly for financial calculations in which the
rounding method needs to be specified exactly. BitInteger is mostly of interest to programmers
doing cryptography.
16.12 THREAD, THREADGROUP AND RUNNABLE
INTERFACE
These classes support multithreaded programming.
Runnable Interface must be implemented by any class that will initiate a separate thread of
execution. Runnable only defines one abstract method called run( ), which is the entry
point to the thread.
abstract void run( )
Thread class creates a new thread of execution. It has 7 constructors defined in it. e.g.,
Thread( )
Thread(Runnable threadOb)
Thread(ThreadGroup groupOb, Runnable threadOb, String threadName)
where threadOb is an instance of a class that implements the Runnable interface and defines
where execution of the thread will begin. The name of the thread is specified by threadName,
groupOb specifies the thread group to which the new thread belongs. Some common methods
defined by thread class are :
static int activeCount( )
Returns the number of threads in the group.
Thread currentThread( )
Returns a Thread object that encapsulates the thread that calls this method.
void destory( )
Terminates the thread.
Static int enumerate(Thread threads[ ])
Puts copies of all Thread objects in the current thread's group into thread. The number of
threads are returned.
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Returns thread's name
final int getPriority( )
Returns the thread's Priority settings.
void run( )
Begins execution of a thread
final void setPriority(int priority)
Sets the priority of the thread to that specified by priority.
Thread Group
Creates a group of threads. It defines two constructors
ThreadGroup(String groupaName)
ThreadGroup(ThreadGroup parentOb, String groupName)
In the first form a new group is created that has the current thread as its parent. In the second form
the parent is specified by parentOb. Thread group offers a convenient way to manage groups of
threads as a unit. This is particularly valuable in situations in which you want to suspend and
resume a number of related threads. Some common methods are:
int activeCount( )
Returns the number of threads in the group plus any groups for which this thread is a
parent.
int activeGroupCount( )
Returns the number of groups for which the invoking thread is a parent.
final void destroy( )
Destroys the thread group on which it is called.
int enumerate (Thread group[ ])
The threads that comprise the invoking thread group are put into the group array.
final int getMaxPriority( )
Returns the maximum priority setting for the group.
final String getName( )
Returns the name of the group.
final void setMaxPriority (int priority)
Sets the maximum priority of the invoking group to priority.
boolean isDestroyed( )
Returns true if the group has been destroyed, otherwise it returns false.
16.13 THROWABLE CLASS
The Throwable Class supports J ava's exception handling system and is the class from which all
exception classes are derived.
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java.lang.object
java.lang.Throwable
java.lang.Error
- a whole bunch of errors
java.lang.Exception
java.lang.RuntimeException
-Unchecked Exceptions
checked exceptions
A Throwable exception or error is said to be thrown at the point where it is generated and
"caught" at the point where execution continues. The Throwable class provides methods that
can trace the "stack" of method calls that a Thread has executed to get to the point at which the
error occurred. This provides one of the main tools for debugging J ava programs after an error or
exception has occurred.
16.14 SECURITY MANAGER
Security Manager is an abstract class that your subclasses can implement to create a security
manager. Generally you do not need to implement your own security manager. The Security
manager's role is to check that individual calls to use protected resources, such as files, are
acceptable at runtime. To make these decisions, the security manager has information about the
calling stack frame, the actual arguments to the call and the security policy that the user has
configured. The most fundamental job that the security manager must perform involves the
loading of native libraries.
16.15 THE JAVA.LANG.REF AND JAVA.LANG.REFLECT
PACKAGES
There are two subpackages of java.lang.
java.lang.ref
The classes in this package provide more flexible control over the garbage collection
process. For example, if you want to reuse numerous objects at some later time, you can
continue to hold references to these objects, but that may require more memory.
You can define soft references to these objects. An object that is "softly reachable" can be
reclaimed by garbage collector if available memory runs low. In that case, the garbage
collector sets the "soft" references to that object to null.
java.lang.reflect
Reflection is the ability of a program to analyse itself. This package provides the ability to
obtain information about the fields, constructors, methods and modifiers of a class.
Class in the reflect package allows a program to discover the variables, methods, constructors
and interfaces implemented. This capability is essential to the J avaBeans and to the
Serialization API. Serialization refers to the ability to recreate the object to a file or over a
network connection to another computer. It uses Reflection API to understand how to
rebuild the object using object's class file. The reflect package has one interface called
"Member" and seven classes. Some of the classes defined in reflect package are:
Array, Field, Method, Constructor, Modifier etc.
Example:
import java.lang.reflect.*
class reflectdemo
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{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
rc r = new rc( )
r.disp( );
class c = Class forName ("rc");
Constructor c1[ ] = c.getConstructors( );
Field f[ ] = c.getField( );
Method m[ ] = c.getMethod( );
for (int i = 0; i <c1.length; i++)
{
System.out.println (" " + c1 [i]);
}
for (int i = 0; i<f.length; i++)
{
System.out.println (" " + f [i]);
}
for (int i = 0; i < m.length;
i++)
{
System.out.println (" " + m [i]);
}
}
}
class rc
{
int a;
public rc( )
{
System.out.println ("rc constructor");
}
public void disp( )
{
System.out.println ("disp method");
}
public void calc( )
{
System.out.println ("calc method");
}
}
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The above example will display all the constructors, methods and variables declared in class "rc"
and class "Object" because each class is derived from super class "Object".
Student Activity 3
1. What is a clone ? Describe clone( ) method.
2. Define class and classloader.
3. Describe some methods available with math class.
4. Which classes support multithreaded programming?
5. Describe the following classes :
a. Thread
b. Thread Group
c. Throwable Class
6. What is Security Manager ?
7. Describe the function of the following sub packages :
a. java.lang.ref
b. java.lang.reflect
16.16 SUMMARY
The Wrapper classes let you use many J ava utility classes that manipulate objects for
manipulating primitive values.
The static methods of these classes provide many convenient functions such as conversion
to and from String representation.
The static final variables of these classes provide useful constants, such as the
MAX_VALUE constant of the Integer class.
There is one wrapper class for each primitive type. For example :
Integer wraps the int type
Float wraps the float type
Process class in conjunction with Runtime class is used to execute other heavy weight
processes, (any executable program) such as notepad etc.
Runtime class gives available system memory and memory usage.
System class encapsulates stdin, stdout, stderr which allows you to write output to and
read input from the console. It provides way for catastropic exit from the application through
exit( ) method. It allows you to call garbage collector and initiate finalize( ) method.
Information about current directory, home directory, login name of user etc. can be attained
from getProperty( ) method of system class.
Math Class provides functions that are used for geometric, trigonometric and arbitrary
precision arithmetic.
ThreadGroup class offers a convenient way to manage groups of thread as one unit.
Class object provides methods to find out classname, superclass name, methods etc. for
the invoking object.
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16.17 KEYWORDS
java.lang package : A collection of classes which gets special treatment because some of its
classes are so low level that they are considered part of the J ava language.
Wrapper classes : Classes that let you use many J ava utility classes that manipulate objects for
manipulating prioritive values.
Number : A superclass that is implemented by the classes that wrap the numeric type bytes,
short, int, long, float and double.
System class : Class that automatically creates a standard input, standard output and standard
error output stream, named system.in, system.out, and system.err.
Clone : An exact copy of the original.
Clone( ) : A method that generates a duplicate of the object on which it is called.
Class loader : To execute java byte codes, the J VM uses a classloader to feteh the bytecodes
from a disk or a network.
Math class : Class containing all the floating point functions that are used for geometry and
trignometry as well as some general purpose methods.
Security manager : An abstract class that subclasses can implement to create a security manager.
16.18 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What are the applications of Wrapper Classes ?
2. Which one of these options is correct?
a. double mySqrt (double val)
{
return Math.sqrt (val);
}
b. double mySqrt (double val)
{
return Math.sqrt (Math.abs (val));
}
c. double mySqrt (double val)
{
Math myM = new Math( );
return myM.sqrt (myM.abs (val));
}
3. Which of the following statements is correct ?
a. You must initialize System with a path and filename if you want to use System.err
output.
b. The System.arraycopy method works only with array of primitives.
c. The System.exit method takes an int primitive parameter.
4. Which of the following options will calculate the tangent of the angle ?
a. double calc (double angle)
{
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return Math.tan (angle * Math.PI/180.0);
}
b. double calc (double angle)
{
return Math.tan (angle * PI/180.0);
}
c. double calc (double angle)
{
return Math.tan (angle);
}
d. double calc (double angle)
{
Math myM = new Math( );
return myM.tan (angle * (myM.IP/180.0)).
}
5. How do you get a Method object using java.lang.reflect.Method class?
a. From any instance of the class to be examined.
b. From a Class object created using the name of the class to be examined.
c. From a Reflect object created using the name of the class to be examined.
6. Which of the following will produce a value of 22 if x =22.9 ?
a. ceil (x)
b. round (x)
c. abs(x)
d. floor (x)
7. Which of the following are the Wrapper classes ?
a. Random
b. Byte
c. Vector
d. Integer
e. Short
f. Double
8. How does class loader load an applet ?
9. What is the use of java.ref package ?
10. Explain advantages of Thread Grouping ?
11. Write a program to input CustNo(String), ItemNo(String), Qty(int), Rate(Float class), discount
Rate(Float class). Calculate NetValue and discount amount for each customer by calling a
function. At the end of program display total collection and total discount amount given to
all the customers.
12. Write a program to call Paintbrush program from within J ava the application.
13. Write a program which does the following :
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b. displays free memory available to J avaRunTime.
c. initiates garbage collector.
d. displays free memory after initiating garbage collector.
e. Creates int array of 500 elements.
f. displays free memory after allocation.
g. discards 200 elements by putting null reference to these elements.
h. calls garbage collector.
i. displays free memory after garbage collection.
16.19 FURTHER READINGS
Herbert Schildt ; Java: The Complete Reference, J2SE TM ; 2005, Mc Graw-Hill Professional.
J im Farley ; OReilly, Java Distributed Computing.
Robert W. Bill ; Jython for Java Programmers ; 2001, Sam Publishing.
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17
JAVA.UTILTHE UTILITY CLASSES
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe the enumeration interface
Define vector
Define stack
Define dictionary
Define hashtable
Use store( ) and load( ) methods
Define string tokenizer
Describe bitset class
Describe date and date comparison
Describe time zones
Describe random class
Describe observer interface.
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
17.1 Introduction
17.2 The Enumeration Interface
17.3 Vector
17.4 Stack
17.5 Dictionary
17.6 Hashtable
17.7 Properties
17.8 Using Store( ) And Load( )
17.9 StringTokenizer
17.10 Bitset Class
17.11 Date and Date Comparison
17.12 Time Zones
17.13 Random Class
17.14 Observer Interface
17.15 Summary
17.16 Keywords
17.17 Review Questions
17.18 Further Readings
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The Utility Classes
17.1 INTRODUCTION
The java.util package is a collection of classes and interfaces that support a broad range of
functionality. Their applications include generating pseudorandom numbers, manipulating date
and time, observing events, manipulating set of bits and tokenizing strings. Package java.util
uses inheritance more than package java.lang. For example, the Properties class is an extension of
class Hashtable, which itself is an extension of Dictionary. In previous unit you studied type
Wrapper classes to convert simple primitives to object and object to primitivies. You also studied
System, Math and Thread Group classes of java.lang package in detail. In this unit you will learn
legacy classes such as Stack, Vector, Dictionary, Hashtable and Properties which are part of
collection framework. You will also learn to tokenize Strings, work with dates, compute random
numbers and observe events. This unit also talks about Enumeration Interface and Observable
Interface.
17.2 THE ENUMERATION INTERFACE
It defines the method by which you can enumerate the elements in a collection of objects. This
interface has two methods:
boolean hasMoreElements( )
Object nextElement( )
Enumeration interface requires any collection oriented class to implement these methods.
HasMoreElements( ) returns true while there are still more elements to extract and false when all
elements have been enumerated.
nextElement( ) returns the next object in the enumeration as a generic Object reference. The
calling routine must cast that object into the object type held in the Enumeration. The Enumeration
interface provides a way to iterate over all of the objects contained in a Vector, Hashtable or Stack.
For example, if V is a Vector, to print every object contained in the vector, use the following code:
Enumeration e = V.elements( );
while (e.hasMoreElements( ))
{
System.out.println (e.nextElement( ));
}
While an Enumeration is in use, nothing can be allowed to modify the underlying Vector data. If
you need to continue using the vector, create the Enumeration from a clone of the Vector.
17.3 VECTOR
Vector implements a dynamic array, i.e., the Vector class can hold an array of object references
that can automatically grow in size as needed. Because all J ava classes inherit from Object, you
can add any reference to a Vector. Vector contains many legacy methods. Various methods
provide for retrieving objects by index and for searching. Vector extends AbstractList and
implements List interface. Because Vector implements List, you can use a Vector just like you use
an ArrayList instance (new collection API). You can also manipulate one using its legacy method.
All of the Vector methods that alter the contents are synchronized to coordinate access by
multiple threads.
Vector possesses a number of advantages over arrays.
It is convenient to use Vectors to store objects.
A Vector can be used to store a list of objects that may vary in size.
We can add and delete objects from the list as and when required.
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A major constraint in using vectors is that we can not directly store simple data types in a Vector;
we can only store objects. Therefore, we need to convert simple types to objects using Wrapper
classes.
Vector Constructors
Vector( ) // which has initial size of 10
Vector (int size) // initial capacity specified by size.
Vector (int size, int incr) // initial capacity specified by size and increment specified by incr. The
increment specifies the number of elements to allocate each time that a vector is resized upwards.
Vector (collection c) // vector that contains the elements of
collection c.
All vectors start with an initial capacity. After initial capacity is reached, the next time you attempt
to store an object in vector, the vector automatically allocates space for that object plus extra
room for additional objects.
Vector defines three data members.
int capacityIncrement; // increment value is stored
int elementCount; // Number of elements in the vector
Object elementData[ ]; // Array that holds vector
Some common methods are given below.
Method Description
final void addElement(Object elements) Object is added to the vector.
final int capacity( ) Returns the capacity of the Vector.
final Object elementAt(int index) Returns an enumeration of the elements in
the vector.
final Object firstElement( ) Returns the first element in the vector.
final int size( ) Returns the number of elements currently
in vector.
final void setSize(int size) Sets the number of elements in the vector
to size. If the new size is less than the old
size, elements are lost. If new size is larger
than old size null elements are added.
final int indexOf(Object element, int start) Returns the index of the first occurrence of
element at or after start.
final void insertElementsAt (Objecct Adds element to the vector at the location
specified element, int index) by index.
final void removeAllElements( ) Empties the vector.
final boolean removeElements Removes element from the vector. Returns
(Object element) true if successful and false if the object is
not found.
final void removeElementAt (int index) Removes the element at location specified
by index.
final void setElementAt The location specified by index is assigned
(object element, int index) element.
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The Utility Classes
Example :
class vectorDemo
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
Vector v = new vector (3,2);
System.out.println ("Initial Size "+ v.size( ));
System.out.println ("Initial Capacity "+ v.capacity( ));
v.addElement (new Integer(1));
v.addElement (new Integer(2));
v.addElement (new Integer(3));
v.addElement (new Integer(4));
System.out.println ("Capacity after four additions:" +
v.capacity( ));
v.addElement (new Double (5.45));
System.out.println ("Current capacity" + v.capacity( ));
v.addElement (new Double (6.08));
v.addElement (new Integer (7));
System.out.println (Current capacity" + v.capacity( ));
v.addElement (new Float (9.4));
v.addElement (new Integer(10));
System.out.println ("First element" + (Integer)
v.firstElement( ));
System.out.println("Last element"+(Integer) v.lastElement( ));
if (v.contains (new Integer (3)))
System.out.println ("Vector contains 3.");
Enumeration vEnum = v.elements( );
System.out.println ("\n Elements in vector :");
while (vEnum.hasMoreElements( ))
System.out.println (vEnum.nextElement( ) +" ");
System.out.println( );
}
}
Output : Initial size : 0
Initial capacity 3
Capacity after four additions : 5
Current capacity 5
Current capacity 7
First element 1
Last element 10
Vector element 3
Elements in vector
1 2 3 4 5.45 6.08 7 9.4 10
The above program uses a vector to store various types of numeric objects. It demonstrates
several legacy methods to display various information about the vector.
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Student Activity 1
1. What is java.util package ?
2. What is the role of the enumeration interface ?
3. Name the methods available in enumeration interface.
4. What is a vector ?
5. Write various vector constructors.
17.4 STACK
Stack is a subclass of vector that implements a standard last-in, first-out stack. Stack only defines
the default constructor which creates an empty stack. Stack includes all the methods defined by
vector and adds several of its own.
Method Description
boolean empty( ) Returns true if the stack is empty and returns false
if the stack contains elements.
Object peek( ) Returns the element on the top of the stack.
Object pop( ) Returns the element on the top of the stack and
then removes it from the stack.
Object push(Object element) Pushes element onto the stack and returns the
element.
int search(Object element) Searches for element in the stack. If found, its
offset from the top of the stack is returned
otherwise -1 is returned.
Example :
import. java.util *
class StackDemo
{
static void showpush (Stack st, int a)
{
st.push (new Integer (a));
System.out.println ("push ("+a +")");
System.out.println ("Stack :" + st);
}
static void showpop (Stack st)
{
System.out.println ("pop >>");
Integer a = (Integer) st.pop( );
System.out.println ("stack:" + st);
}
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
Stack st = new Stack( );
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System.out.println ("stack" + st);
showpush st, 42);
showpush (st, 66);
showpush (st, 99);
showpop (st);
showpop (st);
showpop (st);
try
{
showpop (st);
}
catch (EmptyStackException e)
{
System.out.println ("empty stack");
}
}
}
Output : Stack:[ ]
push (42)
Stack : [42]
push (66)
Stack : [42, 66]
push (99)
Stack : [42, 66, 99]
pop >> 99
Stack : [42, 66]
pop >> 66
Stack : [42]
pop >> 42
Stack : [ ]
pop >> empty stack
The above example creates a stack, pushes several Integer Objects onto it, and then pops them
off. An EmptyStackException is thrown if you call pop( ) when the invoking stack is empty.
17.5 DICTIONARY
Arrays, vectors and stacks provide ordered access to your collection. To provide alternative
collection methodology where order is not important, J ava provides support for key-value pair
collection. Dictionary is an abstract class that represents a key / value storage repository, given
a key and a value, you can store the value in a Dictionary object. Value can be retrieved by using
its key instead of looking up elements by an integer position.
Some common methods are given below.
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Method Description
Enumeration elements( ) : Returns an enumeration of the values contained
in dictionary.
Object get(Object key) : Returns the object that contains the value
associated with key.
boolean isEmpty( ) : Returns true if the dictionary is empty.
Object put(Object key, Object value) : Inserts a key and its value into the dictionary.
Object remove(Object key) : Removes key and its value.
int size( ) : Returns number of entries in the dictionary.
NOTE The Dictionary class is now obsolete. You should implement the Map interface to
obtain key/value storage functionality.
17.6 HASHTABLE
A Hashtable object is used extensively in J ava to associate objects with names efficiently. A
Hashtable object can store and retrieve "Value" objects indexed by "Key" objects. Hashtable
extends Dictionary class and implements Map interface. When you use a Hashtable, you specify
an object that is used as a key and the value that you want to link to that key. The key is then
hashed and the resulting hashcode is used as index at which the value is stored within the table.
Hashtable pagetable = new Hashtable( );
String page = "http//www.coriolis.com";
String key ="coriolis";
pagetable.put (key, page);
A Hashtable can only store one "value" per "key" if you add a new reference with a duplicate
key, the old reference is dropped. Internally Hashtable stores object references according to
hashcodes, so if you get an Enumeration of all of the stored "value" or "key" objects, the order
is not predictable.
The Hashtable constructors are
Hashtable( )
Hashtable(int size) >>creates Hashtable with specified size.
Hashtable(int size; float fillRatio) >>Creates Hashtable with specified size and specified
fillRatio (0.0 and 1.0). FillRatio determines how full the hashtable can be before it is resized
upwards. Default fill ratio is 0.75.
The operations you can do on Hashtable are mostly inherited from Dictionary.
Additional methods of Hashtable are
Method Description
void clear( ) : Resets and empties the hashtable.
object clone( ) : Returns a duplicate of the invoking object.
boolean Contains (Object values) : Returns true if some value equal to "values"
exists within the hashtable.
int size( ) : Returns the number of entries in hashtable.
Enumeration keys( ) : Returns the enumeration of keys contained in
hashtable.
boolean isEmpty() : Returns true if hashtable is empty.
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Example :
import java.util.*;
class hashdemo
{
public static void main (string args[ ])
{
Hashtable Student = new Hashtable( );
Enumeration names;
String str;
float fee;
// put data in hashtable
Student.put ("Amit", new Float (3000.00));
Student.put ("Jeet", new Float (2500.00));
Student.put ("Akshay", new Float (2500.00));
// show content of hashtable
names = student.keys( );
while (names. hashMoreElements( ))
{
str = (String) names.nextElements( );
System.out.println (Str +" : " + Student.get(str));
}
// deposit fine of Rs 50 into Amit's Account
fee = (( Float) Student.get ("Amit")).floatValue( );
Student.put ("Amit", new Float (fee+50));
System.out.println ("Total Money collected from Amit:" + Student.get
("Amit"));
}
}
17.7 PROPERTIES
When the objects to store in your hashtable are strings, you should consider using the Properties
class. Properties is a subclass of hashtable. It is used to maintain lists of values in which the key
is a string and value is also a string. Instead of having to cast return values to String class, the
Properties class does this for you with its supporting methods. Property defines the following
instance variable
Properties defaults;
This variable holds default property list associated with a properties object. Properties defines
these constructors :
Properties ( )
Properties (Properties propDefault)
The first version is a default constructor. The second creates an object that uses propDefault for
its default values. In both cases, property list is empty. In Addition to the methods that Properties
inherits from Hashtable, Properties defines some more methods.
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String getProperty(String key) Returns the value associated with key.
String getProperty (String key, String defaultProperty) Returns the value associated with key.
"defaultProperty" is returned if key is neither in the list nor in the default property list.
void list(PrintStream streamOut) Sends the property list to the output stream linked to
"streamOut".
Enumeration propertyNames( ) Returns an enumeration of the keys. This includes the keys
found in the default property list too.
Object setProperty(String key, String value) Associates value with key. Returns the previous
value associated with key.
void store(OutputStream streamOut, String description) After writing the string specified by
description, the property list is written to the output stream linked to streamOut.
import java.util.*;
class PropDemo
{
public static void main (String args[ ]
{
properties capitals = new Properties( );
Set states;
Set str;
capitals.put ("M.P.", "Bhopal");
capitals.put ("U.P.", "Lucknow");
capitals.put ("Maharashtra", "Mumbai");
states = capitals.keySet( );
Iterator itr = states.iterator( );
while (itr = states.iterator( );
while (itkr.hasNext( ))
{
str = (String) itr.next)( );
System.out.println ("The capital of" + str +"is" +
capitals. getProperty
((str)+ ".");
}
System.out.println ();
str = capitals.getProperty ("Florida", "Not.Found");
System.out.println ('The capital of Florida is" + str
+ ".");
}
}
Output : The capital of M.P. is Bhopal
The capital of U.P. is Lucknow
The capital of Maharashtra is Mumbai
The capital of Florida is Not Found
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The above example demonstrates Properties. It creates a Property list in which the keys are the
names of states and the values are the names of their capitals. Since Florida is not in the list, the
defualt value is used.
Student Activity 2
1. What is a stack ?
2. Describe the function of following methods :
a. Object peek c. int size( )
b. Object( ) d. boolean is Empty( )
3. What is a dictionary ?
4. What is a hashtable ?
5. Write various hashtable constructors.
6. Define properties.
17.8 USING STORE( ) AND LOAD( )
Information contained in the Property object can be easily stored to or loaded from disk with the
store( ) and load( ) methods. This makes property lists specially convenient for implementing
databases.
Example :
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
class Phonebook
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
throws IOException
{
Properties ht = new Properties( );
BufferedReader br =
new BufferedReader (new InputStreamReader System.in));
String name, number;
FileInputStream fin = null;
boolean changed = false;
try
{
fin = new FileInputStream ("Phonebook.dat");
}
catch (FileNotFoundException e)
{
}
try
{
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if (fin ! = null)
{
ht.load (fin);
fin.close( );
}
}
catch (IOException e) {System.out.println ("Enter reading file");}
do
{
System.out.println ("Enter new Name" + " ('quite toStop)":);
name = br.readLine( );
if (name.equals ("quit")) continue;
System.out.println ("Enter number:");
number = br.readLine( );
ht.put (name, number);
changed = true;
}
while (! name.equals ("quit"));
if (changed)
{
{
FileOutputStream fout = new FileOutputStream ("Phonebook.dat");
ht.store (fout, "TelephoneBook");
fout.close( );
}
do
{
name = br.readLine( );
if (name.equals ("quite")) continue;
number = (String) ht.get (name);
System.out.println (number);
}
while (! name.equals ("quit"));
}
}
The above program stores names and phone numbers in the Dictionary object from file called
"Phonebook.dat". It also allows the user to add new details in the Dictionary object and to save
the data in the file. Finally, it asks you to enter name and searches for the corresponding phone
numbers.
The most common use of Properties is with a list of system properties. If you ask the system class
for its list of properties, you can find out information like the
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version of J ava being used by the person running the program, to find out what directory to store
temporary files in, just add
System.getProperties( ).list (System.out);
17.9 STRINGTOKENIZER
Class StringTokenizer extracts identifiable substrings and punctuation from an input stream
according to user defined rules. This process is called tokenizing. The common application that
uses text tokenizing is the compiler.
Compiler analyses a stream of tokens representing and extracted from your source file. Keywords,
identifiers, punctuations, comments, strings and so on are first compressed into easy to manipulate
tokens. Only after this lexical analysis stage does a compiler starts to check the complex grammar
of any programming language. The J ava compiler (javac.exe) uses the StringTokenizer class for
this purpose.
The stringTokenizer class provides the first step in the parsing process called lexer. Parsing is the
division of text into a set of discrete parts, or tokens. StringTokenizer implements the enumeration
interface. StringTokenizer constructors are:
StringTokenizer(String str) // default delimiters are used
StringTokenizer(String str, String delimiters)
StringTokenizer(String str, String delimiters, boolean delimAsToken)
str is the string that will be tokenized. delimiters is a string that specifies the delimiters (, ; :). If
delimAsToken is true, then the delimiters are also returned. Delimiters are characters that separate
tokens. The default set of delimiters consists of whitespace, space, tab, newline, carriage return.
Some common methods are:
Methods Description
int countTokens( ) : Returns the number of tokens left to be parsed.
boolean hasMoreElement( ) : Returns true if one or more tokens remain in the string.
Object nextElement( ) : Returns the next token as an Object.
String nextToken ( ) : Returns the next token as a String.
Example :
import java.util.StringTokenizer;
class STDemo
{
Static String in = "title = Java:The Complete
Reference;" + "author = Naughton and Schildt;" +
"publisher = Osborne / McGrawHill;" + "copyright
= 1999";
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
StringTokenizer st = new StringTokenizer (in, "=;");
while (st.hasMoreTokens( ))
{
String key = st.nextToken( );
String val = st.nextToken( );
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System.out.println (key + "\t" + val);
}
}
}
Output : title Java : The Complete Reference
author Naughton and Schildt
publisher Osborne / McGraw-Hill
copyright 1999
17.10 BITSET CLASS
Class BitSet implements a set of bits or a vector of boolean value. It creates a special type of array
that holds bit values. This array can increase in size as needed.
BitSet operations include the following:
Setting, clearing and getting single bits.
ANDing, NOTing, ORing and XORing.
Comparing bit set.
Bitset Constructors are:
BitSet( )
BitSet(int size)
The first version creates a default object. The second version specifies its initial size in bits. All
bits are initialized to zero. BitSet implements the Cloneable interface. Some common methods are:
Method Description
void and(BitSet bitset) : ANDs the contents of the invoking BitSet Object with
those specified by bitset. The result is placed into the
invoking object.
void clear(int index) : Zeros the bit specified by index.
object clone( ) : Duplicates the invoking BitSet object.
boolean equals (object bitSet) : Returns true if the invoking bit set (object bitSet) is
equivalent to the one passed in bitSet.
boolean get(int bitIndex) : Returns the current state of the bit at the specified
index.
void or(BitSet bitset) : ORs the contents of the invoking BitSet object with
that specified by bitSet. The result is placed into the
invoking object.
void set(int index) : Sets the bit specified by the index.
Example :
import java.util.BitSet;
class BitSetDemo
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
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BitSet bits1 = new BitSet (16);
BitSet bits2 = new BitSet (16);
for (int i = 0; i < 16; i++)
{
if ((i%2) = = 0) bits1.set (i);
if ((i%5) ! = 0) bits2.set (i);
System.out.println (bits1);
System.out.println (bits2);
bits2.and (bits1);
System.out.println ("\nbit2 AND bits1");
System.out.println (bits2);
bits2.or (bits1);
System.out.println (bits2);
}
}
}
Output : {0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14}
{1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14}
bits2 AND bits1
{2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 14}
bits2 OR bits1
{0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14}
The above program displays set bits in bit1 and bit2 in the form of their position in the bit set.
Cleared bits are not shown.
Student Activity 3
1. What is the function of store( ) and load( ) methods?
2. What is a function of class string Tokenizer?
3. What is the function of Bitset class?
4. Describe the function of following methods :
a. void clear (int index) b. object clone( )
c. void set (int index) d. boolean get (int bitindex)
17.11 DATE AND DATE COMPARISON
The Date class encapsulates the current date and time. Date supports the following constructors:
Date( )
Date(long millisec)
The first constructor initialises the object with the current date and time. The second constructor
sets the date and time that equals the number of milliseconds that have elapsed since midnight,
J anuary 1, 1970. Date implements the comparable interface.
Common methods are:
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Method Description
boolean after(Date date) : Returns true if the invoking Date object contains a
date that is later than the one specified by date.
boolean before(Date date) : Returns true if the invoking Date object contains a
date that is earlier than the one specified by date.
object clone( ) : Duplicates the invoking Date object.
int compareTo(Date date) : Compares the value of the invoking object with that of
date. Returns '0' if values are equal.
boolean equals(object date) : Returns true if the invoking Date object contains the
same time and date as specified by date.
long getTime( ) : Returns the number of milliseconds that have elapsed
since January 1,1970.
void setTime (long time) : Sets the time and date as specified by time, which
represents an elapsed time in milliseconds from
midnight January 1, 1970.
Date features do not allow you to obtain the individual components of the date or time. You can
only obtain the date and time in terms of milliseconds.
import java.util.Date;
class datedemo
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
Date date = new Date
System.out.println (date);
long sec = date.getTime( );
System.out.println ("Millisecond since Jan 1, 1970" + sec);
}
}
The above program displays date and time using the toString( ) method. Secondly, it displays
time elapsed in milliseconds since J anuary 1, 1970.
The abstract "Calendar" class provides a set of methods that allow you to convert a time in
milliseconds to its year, month, day, hour, minute and second component.
import java.util.Calendar;
class Calendardemo
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance( );
System.out.print ("Date:");
System.out.print (cal.get (Calendar.MONTH));
System.out.print (cal.get (Calendar.DATE));
System.out.println(cal.get (Calendar.YEAR));
cal.set (Calendar.HOUR, 10);
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cal.set (Calendar.MINUTE, 29);
cal.set (Calendar.SECOND, 22);
System.out.print ("Updated time");
System.out.print (cal.get (Calendar.HOUR)+":");
System.out.print(cal.get (Calendar.MINUTE)+":");
System.out.print(cal.get (Calendar.SECOND)+":");
}
}
The above program creates a calendar object initialized with the current date and time. It displays
current month, date and year. It sets the new time and displays the updated time.
Date Comparison
There are ways to compare two Date objects.
1. Use getTime( ) to obtain number of milliseconds that have elapsed since, midnight J anuary
1, 1970 for both objects and then compare two values.
2. Use before( ), after( ), equal( ) methods, e.g. : new Date(99, 2, 12). before(new Date (99, 2, 8)
returns true.
3. Use CompareTo( ) method. Returns zero if two Date objects are equal, returns -ve value if
invoking Date object is before the Date passed as parameter.
17.12 TIME ZONES
The TimeZone class allows you to work with time zone offsets from Greenwich Mean Time
(GMT), also referred to as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). It only has default constructor.
Method Description
Static String[ ] getAvailableIDs( ) : Returns an array of String objects representing the
names of all time zones.
static TimeZone getDefault( ) : Returns a TimeZone object that represents the
default time zone used on the host computer.
abstract boolean inDaylightTime : Returns true if the date represented by d is in
(Dated) daylight saving time in the invoking object.
static void setDefault(TimeZone tz) : Sets the default time zone to be used on this host.
tz is a reference to the TimeZone object.
17.13 RANDOM CLASS
The Random class is a generator of pseudorandom numbers.
Random defines two constructors:
Random( )
Random(long seed)
The first version uses current time as seed value; in the second constructor you can supply seed
value manually. If you give the same seed again, Random generates same sequence of numbers.
The easiest way is to give the current time as the seed value so that it can generate different
sequences. Some common methods are:
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Method Description
boolean nextBoolean( ) : Returns the next boolean random number.
double nextDouble( ) : Returns the next double random number.
float nextfloat( ) : Returns the next float random number.
int nextInt( ) : Returns the next int random number.
int nextInt(int n) : Returns the next int random number with the range
zero to n.
void setSeed : Sets the seed value to that specified (long newSeed)
by newSeed.
long nextLong( ) : Returns the next long random number.
There are six tes of random numbers that you can extract from a Random object. nextBoolean( ),
nextBytes( ), nextInt( ), nextLong( ), nextFloat( ), nextDouble( ) methods return a boolean, byte,
integer, long, float, and double random numbers respectively.
Example :
import java.util.Random;
class randomdemo
{
public static void main (String args[ ] )
{
Random r = new Random( );
double d, sum = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
{
d = r.nextDouble( )
System.out.println ("double Number :"+d);
sum = sum+d;
}
System.out.println ("Sum = " Sum);
}
}
17.14 OBSERVER INTERFACE
Sometimes, within an application, it is necessary for a change in an object to trigger changes in other
objects; these changes may, in turn, trigger changes in yet other objects. In short, you have a number
of objects that are in some way dependent on other objects. This is called dependency network.
In this mechanism any root object that needs to send some kind of notification to other objects
should be subclassed from class Observable and any objects that need to receive such notifications
should implement interface Observer.
To establish the dependency, any observer objects are added to the observable object. Whenever
this observable object changes, it can then call its observable method notifyObservers( ).
The observable class is used to create subclasses that other parts of your program can observe.
When an object of such a subclass undergoes a change, observing classes are notified. Observing
classes implements Observer Interface, which defines update( ) method.
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Common methods of Observable Class are:
Method Description
void addObserver(Observer obj) : Adds obj to the list of objects observing the
invoking objects.
int countObservers( ) : Returns the number of objects observing the
invoking objects.
void deleteObservers(Observer obj): Removes obj from the list of objects observing the
invoking objects.
void deleteObservers( ) : Removes all observers for the invoking objects.
boolean hasChanged( ) : Returns true if the invoking object has been modified.
void notifyObservers( ) : Notifies all observers of the invoking object that it
has changed by calling update( ).
protected void setChanged( ) : Called when invoking object has changed.
Observer Interface defines only one method:
void update(Observable ObsOb, Object arg)
ObsOb is the object being observed
arg is the value passed by notifyObservers( )
Example :
import java.util.*;
class Watcher implements Observer
{
public void update (Observable obj, Object arg)
{
System.out.println ("update( ) called, count is" + ((Integer)
arg)).intValue( ));
}
}
class BeingWatched extends Observable
{
void counter (int period)
{
for (; period > = 0; period - -)
{
setChanged( );
notifyObservers (new Integer(period));
try
{
Thread.sleep (100);
}
catch (InterruptedException e)
{
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System.out.println ("Sleep interrupted");
}
}
}
}
class ObserverDemo
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
BeginWatched observed = new BeingWatched( );
Watcher observing = new Watcher( );
observed.addObserver (observing);
observed.counter (5);
}
}
Output : Update( ) called, count is 5
Update( ) called, count is 4
Update( ) called, count is 3
Update( ) called, count is 2
Update( ) called, count is 1
Update( ) called, count is 0
The above program creates an observer class called "Watcher" that implements the observer
interface. The class being monitored is called "BeingWatched". It extends Observable. counter( )
method in "BeingWatched" counts down from a specific value. Each time the count changes,
notifyObservers( ) is called with the current count passed as its argument. This causes the
update( ) method inside "Watcher" to be called which displays the current count. In the main( ),
a Watcher and a BeingWatched object, called observing and observed, respectively are created.
Then observing is added to the list of observers. Each time when counter( ) calls notifyObservers( ),
observing.update( ) will be called.
Student Activity 4
1. What is the function of Date Class?
2. Write a program to display date and time of the system.
3. How will you compare two dates.
4. What is Random Class ? Write its constructors.
5. List some methods of observable class.
6. What is the function of observable class?
17.15 SUMMARY
In this lesson you should have learned the following:
The primary, historic collection classes that provide ordered access are Vector and Stack.
The Interface Enumeration offers the means to step through the contents.
If you need to store primitive datatypes within a Vector, or any other collection besides an
array, you need to use the Wrapper classes found in J ava.
The abstract Dictionary class describes the interface for working with key value maps.
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BitSet implements a set of bits or a vector of boolean values. Bitset operations include
setting, clearing and getting single bits, Anding, NOTing, ORing, and XORing bitsets together.
Date class can be used to store and manipulate dates. Calendar class provides a set of
methods, that allow you to convert a time in millisecond to its year, month, day, hour, minute
and second components.
The Random class generates pseudo random numbers between 0 and 1.
The Observable class is used to create subclasses that other parts of your program can
observe. When an object of such a subclass undergoes a change, observing classes are
notified. The update method is called when an observer is notified of a change in an
observed object. For example, events generated in GUI are handled by delegating to objects
that have registered an interest in that type of event. This model of event handling is called
observer-observable design pattern in which the observable is the component that
generates events and the observer is the object that has registered to receive events. Event
observer objects are called listeners.
17.16 KEYWORDS
java.util package : A collection of classes and interfaces that support generating pseudorandom
numbers, manipulating date and time, observing events, manipulating set of bits and tokenizing
strings.
Vector : Vector implements a dynamic array.
Stack : A subclass of vector that implements a standard last-in, first-out stack.
Dictionary : An abstract class that represents a key / value storage repository.
Hashtable : Used to associate objects with names efficiently. It can store and retrieve value
object indexed by key objects.
Properties : A subclass of hashtable used to maintain lists of values in which the key is a string
and value is also a string.
Tokenizing : Extracting identifiable substrings and punctuation from an input stream according
to user defined rules.
Random Class : A generator of pseudorandom numbers.
Observable Class : A class used to create subclasses that other parts of a program can observe.
17.17 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is a vector ? How is it different from an array ?
2. What are legacy classes ?
3. What is the difference between Hashtable and String classes ?
4. What are the usages of Observer Interface ?
5. Which of the following statements about the java.util.Vector and java.util.Hashtable classes
are correct ?
a. A vector can hold object references or primitive values.
b. A vector maintains object references in the order they were added.
c. A Hashtable requires string objects as keys.
d. A Hashtable maintains object references in the order they were added.
6. An object of the Hashtable class can store and retrieve object references based on
associated "key" objects. Which of the following interfaces does Hashtable implement ?
a. SortedMap b. Map
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7. Write a program to create an array to store 12 months of a year. Using Stack, display these
months in reverse order.
8. Write a program to store command line arguments in a vector object. Change the content of
second element. Insert new element at a specific location. Delete an item at specific location.
Convert vector into array of strings and display the Strings.
9. Write a program to input name and birthdate of a person. Find out his age.
17.18 FURTHER READINGS
Herbert Schildt ; Java: The Complete Reference, J2SE TM ; 2005, Mc Graw-Hill Professional.
UNIT
18
INPUT OUTPUT CLASSES
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe input output classes
Describe file class in J ava
Describe a directory
Describe the stream classes
Describe input stream and output stream
Describe file input stream and file output stream
Describe byte array input stream and byte array output stream
Describe print stream
Describe random access file
Describe stream tokenizer
Understand stream benefits.
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
18.1 Introduction
18.2 Input Output Classes
18.3 File in J ava
18.4 Directory
18.5 File Name Filter Interface
18.6 Creating Directory
18.7 The Stream Classes
18.8 InputStream and Outputstream
18.9 FileinputStream and FileOutputStream
18.10 ByteArrayInputStream and ByteArrayOutputStream
18.11 FilteredByteStream
18.12 BufferedByteStream
18.13 PrintStream
18.14 RandomAccessFile
18.15 StreamTokenizer
18.16 Stream Benefits
18.17 Summary
18.18 Keywords
18.19 Review Questions
18.20 Further Readings
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18.1 INTRODUCTION
A file is an abstraction used to represent any form of text or data in a permanent form. So far we
have used variables and arrays for storing data inside programs. In this approach, firstly, the data
is lost either when a variable goes out of scope or when the program is terminated. Secondly, it is
difficult to handle large volumes of data using variables and arrays. We can overcome this
problem by storing data on secondary storage devices such as floppy or hard disks. In this
lesson, you will learn how to process data present in files in your java program. J ava has a fairly
clean interface to deal with the files. Files are just one more way in which your J ava program
obtains input or writes output. Other examples of external entities your program can deal with are
console, network connection, MemoryBuffer. These can be manipulated by the J ava Input/
Output classes. Although physically different, these devices are all handled by the same abstraction
stream. Different files have different names and they are often stored in directories. This unit also
discusses the aspect of file input and output.
18.12 INPUT OUTPUT CLASSES
To support the input output operations, the package used is java.io. The data retrieved from an
input source are the results and are sent to an output destination. All devices are handled by
same abstraction : the stream. A stream is a logical entity that either produces or consumes
information. A stream is linked to a physical device by the J ava I/O system. All streams behave in
the same manner even if the actual devices that they link to may differ. Some of the important
classes are:
BufferedInputStream
DataInputStream
DataOutputStream
FilterInputStream
FileReader
PrintWriter
OutputStream
StreamTokenizer
File
18.3 FILE IN JAVA
File class in J ava does not specify how information is retrieved from or stored in files. The File
class is used to represent the name of a file or a set of files (a directory). A File object is used to
obtain or manipulate the information associated with a disk file such as the permission, time, date
and directory path. You can also get some more attributes for the file such as whether the file
exists, whether the file is writeable or not and so on. The constructors used to create File objectsare:
File (String path of the Directory)
File f = new File ("/") ; // f refers to root directory
File (String dirpath, String filename)
File f = new File ("/", "etc./passwd"); // f refers to file "/etc/
passwd"
File f = new File ("config.sys"); // f refers to config.sys in the
current directory
File (File dirobj, String filename)
File f1 = new File (f, "a.dat"); // f refers to a.dat in the root
directory
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Input Output Classes Some common methods used in File are:
Method Description
boolean isFile( ) Returns true if the invoking object is a file. This
method returns false for some special files such as
device drivers and pipes.
boolean isAbsolute( ) Returns true if the file has an absolute path and
false if path is relative.
boolean renameTo (File newname) It returns true if filename specified by "newname"
becomes the new name of invoking File object and
false if file cannot be renamed.
boolean delete( ) Returns true if it deletes the file and false if the file
cannot be removed. It can also be used to delete
directory provided the directory is empty.
String getName( ) Returns name of the file without path.
String getpath( ) Returns full path including filename.
String getParent( ) Returns full path of parent directory.
boolean exists( ) Returns true if file exists and false if file does not
exist on the disk.
boolean canWrite( ) Returns true if file is writable and false if it is not
writable.
boolean canRead( ) Returns true if file is readable and false if it is not
readable.
boolean isDirectory( ) Returns true if the invoking object is a directory
and false if it is a file.
int length( ) Returns file size in bytes.
boolean isHidden Returns true if file is hidden and false if it is not
hidden.
long lastModified Returns time stamp of invoking file in millisec
elapsed since J an 1, 1970.
boolean setLastModified (long sec) Sets the time stamp of invoking object to that
specified by "sec".
boolean setReadOnly( ) Sets the invoking file to read only.
void deleteOnExit( ) Removes the file associated with the invoking
object when the J ava Virtual Machine terminates.
18.4 DIRECTORY
A directory is a file that contains a list of other files and directories. The method to check for
directory is isDirectory( ). It returns true if invoking file is a directory. You can call list method on
file object to extract the list of other files and directories inside the invoking file object, provided
it is a directory.
Syntax : String[ ] list( )
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Example :
import java.io.File;
class Dircheck
{
public static void main (String s[ ])
{
String dirname = "UPTEC";
File fil = new File (dirname);
if (fil.isDirectory( ))
{
System.out.println ("Directory of" + dirname);
String s[ ] = fil. list( );
for (int i = 0; i < s. length;i++)
{
File file = new File (dirname + "/" + s[i]);
if (file.isDirectory( ))
{
System.out.println (s[i] + "is a directory")
}
else
{
System.out.println (s[i] +" is a file");
}
}
}
else
{
System.out.println (dirname + is not a
directory");
}
}
}
18.5 FILE NAME FILTER INTERFACE
To limit the number of files returned by the list ( ) method we need to use the second form of list ( ).
String [ ] list (FilenameFilter fobj)
In this form, FileNameFilter defines only a single method accept( ).
boolean accept (File dir, String filename)
A sample code:
import java.io. *
public class try implements FilenameFilter
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{
String s;
public try (String s)
{
this.s = "." + s;
}
public boolean accept (File dir, String name)
{
return name. endsWith (s);
}
}
class dirfilter
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
String dname = "/java/bin";
FilenameFilter only = new try ("class");
String s[ ] = f1.list (only);
for (int i = 0; i <s.length; i++)
System.out.println (s[i]);
}
}
18.6 CREATING DIRECTORY
Two useful File utility methods are mkdir( ) and mkdirs( ). Both methods return either true or false.
To create directory for which no path exists, use mkdirs( ) which creates directory and Parent
directories.
Example: File f = new file ("abc");
f.mkdir( );
Student Activity 1
1. What is a file in J ava ?
2. What is a stream ?
3. List some methods used in file.
4. What is a directory ?
5. How can we limit the number of files returned by the list( ) method ?
6. How will you create a directory with no path ?
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18.7 THE STREAM CLASSES
J ava's input output streams are built upon four abstract classes:
InputStream
OutputStream
Reader
Writer
Java StreamClasses
Byte Stream
Classes
Character Stream
Classes
Input Stream
Classes
Output Stream
Classes
Reader Classes Writer Classes
Java StreamClasses
Byte Stream
Classes
Character Stream
Classes
Input Stream
Classes
Output Stream
Classes
Reader Classes Writer Classes
Figure 18.1 Classification of Java Stream Classes
InputStream and OutputStream are designed for byteStreams. You can use ByteStream classes
when working with bytes or other binary objects. InputStream classes that are used to read 8 bit
bytes include a super class known as InputStream and a number of subclasses for supporting
various input related functions. InputStream class is an abstract class and we cannot create
instance of this class.
FileInputStream
ObjectInputStream
SequenceInputStream
PipeInputStream
StringBufferInputStream ByteArrayInputStream FilterInputStream
InputStream
PushbackInputStream BufferInputStream DataInputStream
DataInputInterface
FileInputStream
ObjectInputStream
SequenceInputStream
PipeInputStream
StringBufferInputStream ByteArrayInputStream FilterInputStream
InputStream
PushbackInputStream BufferInputStream DataInputStream
DataInputInterface
Figure 18.2 Hierarchy of InputStream Classes
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Input Output Classes
FileOutputStream
ByteArrayOutputStream
ObjectOutputStream
PipedOutputStream
PushbackOutputStream BufferedOutputStream
OutputStream
FilterOutputStream
DataOutputStream
DataOutputInterface
FileOutputStream
ByteArrayOutputStream
ObjectOutputStream
PipedOutputStream
PushbackOutputStream BufferedOutputStream
OutputStream
FilterOutputStream
DataOutputStream
DataOutputInterface
Figure 18.3 Hierarchy of OutputStream Classes
Reader and Writer are designed for Character Streams: You should use character streams when
working with characters or strings. Basic unit of data for Reader and Writer stream is Unicode
character.
BufferedReader
PipeReader
StringReader
CharArrayReader
FilterReader InputStreamReader
Reader
PushbackReader FileReader
BufferedReader
PipeReader
StringReader
CharArrayReader
FilterReader InputStreamReader
Reader
PushbackReader FileReader
Figure 18.4 Hierarchy of ReaderStream Classes
BufferedWriter
StringWriter
PrintWriter
CharArrayWriter
PipeWriter FilterWriter
Writer
OutputStreamWriter
FileWriter
BufferedWriter
StringWriter
PrintWriter
CharArrayWriter
PipeWriter FilterWriter
Writer
OutputStreamWriter
FileWriter
Figuer 18.5 Hierarchy of WriterStream Classes
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18.8 INPUTSTREAM AND OUTPUTSTREAM
It is an abstract class that defines J ava's model of streaming byte input. All these methods throw
an IOException on error conditions. Some important methods are:
InputStreamClassMethod Description
int available( ) Gives number of bytes available in input.
void Close( ) Closes the input stream.
void mark(int numbytes) Places a mark at the current position that will remain
valid until numbytes are read.
boolean marksupported( ) Returns true if mark( )/reset( ) are supported.
int read( ) Returns int representation of next byte.
int read(Byte buffer[ ]) Reads buffer.length bytes into buffer. Returns -1 at
the end of file.
int read(byte buffer[ ], Reads numbytes into buffer starting from offset.
Returns
int offset, int number) -1 at the end of file.
void reset( ), Resets the input pointer to previously set mark.
long skip(long numbytes) Skips numbytes of input.
OutputStream Class is an abstract class that defines streaming byte output. Methodsare:
OutputStream ClassMethod Description
void close( ) Closes output stream.
void flush( ) It flushes/clears the output buffer.
void write(int b) Writes a single byte to an output stream.
void write(byte buffer[ ]) Writes a complete array of bytes to an output stream.
void write(byte buffer [ ], Writes numbytes bytes from array buffer, beginning at int
offset, int numbytes) buffer [offset].
18.9 FILEINPUTSTREAM AND FILEOUTPUTSTREAM
FileInputStream This class creates an InputStream that can be used to read bytes from a file.
The constructor used, takes a file name of File object and opens the file for reading.
FileInputStream(String filepath)
FileInputStream(File fileobj)
It throws FileNotFoundException.
FileOutputStreams This class creates an OutputStream that can be used to write bytes to a file.
The constructors open an existing file or create a new file for writing data.
FileOutputStream(String Filepath)
FileOutputSteam(File Fileobj)
FileOutputStream(String filepath, boolean append)
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Input Output Classes FileInputStream overrides six of the methods in abstract class InputStream. The mark( ) and
reset( ) are not overriden.
FileOutputStream will create the file before opening it for output when you create the object. In
case you attempt to open a read only file, an IOException will be thrown.
Note that the class DataInputStream extends FileInputStream implements the interface DataInput.
Therefore, the DataInputStream class implements the methods and described in DataInput in
addition to using the methods of InputStream class. The DataInput interface contains following
methods to read different data types:
readShort( ), readDouble( ), readInt( ), readLong( ),
readLine( ), readLong( ), readChar( ), readFloat( ),
readBoolean( ), readUTF( )
Similarly, DataOutputStream implements the interface DataOutput and therefore, implements the
following methods contained in DataOutput interface:
WriteShort( ), WriteChar( ),
WriteFloat( ), WriteLong( ),
WriteDouble( ), WriteInt( ), WriteBoolean( ),
WriteUTF( ).
Example: FileInputStream and FileOutputStream
import java.io.*;
class fileio
{
public static void main (String args[ ]) throws Exception
{
int size;
InputStream f = new FileInputStream ("a.dat");
OutputStream f0 = new FileOutputStream ("b.dat");
OutputStream f1 = new FileOutputStream ("b1.dat");
OutputStream f2 = new FileOutputStream ("b2.dat");
size = f.available( );
int n = size/4;
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
{
System.out.print ((char)f.read( ));
}
byte b[ ] = new byte [n];
f.read(b);
System.out.println (new String (b, 0, n));
f.skip (n);
f.read (b, n/2, n/2);
System.out.println (new String (b, 0, b.length) );
f.close( );
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String s = "some data . . . . ";
byte buff[ ] = s.getBytes( );
for (int i = 0; i < bufflength; i = i+1)
{
f0.write (buff[i]);
}
f1.write (buff);
f2.write (buff, bufflength-bufflength/4, buf.length/4);
f2.close( );
f1.close( );
f0.close( )
}
}
Student Activity 2
1. Describe various abstract classes upon which J avas input output streams are built.
2. Describe various methods available in input stream.
3. Describe various methods available in output stream.
4. Describe the role of file input stream.
5. Describe the role of file output stream.
18.10 BYTE ARRAY INPUT STREAM AND BYTE ARRAY
OUTPUT STREAM
It is an implementation of an input stream that uses a byte array as the source. Constructors are:
ByteArrayInputStream(byte array[ ])
ByteArrayInputStream(byte arr[ ], int start, in Numbyte)
Example: ByteArrayInputStream and ByteArrayOutputStream
import java.io.*;
class ByteArrio
{
public static void main (String args[ ])) throws IOException
{
String s = "abcdefg";
byte b[ ] = s.getBytes( );
ByteArrayInputStream in1 = new
ByteArrayInputStream(b);
ByteArrayInputStream in2 = new
ByteArrayInputStream (b, 0, 3);
for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++)
{
int c;
while (( c = in1.read( )) ! = -1)
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{
if (i = = 0)
{
System.out.print ((char) c);
}
else
{
System.out.print (character.
toUpperCase (char)c));
}
}
int.reset( )
}
ByteArrayOutputStream f = new
ByteArrayOutputStreams( );
f.write (b); // buffer to stream;
System.out.println (f.toString( ));
byte buff[ ] = f.toByteArray( );
for (int i = 0; i <buff.length; i++)
{
System.out.println ((char) b[i]);
}
OutputStream f2 = new FileOutputStream ("a.dat");
f.writeTo (f2); // to an output Stream
f2.close( );
f.reset( );
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
f.write ('X');
System.out.println (f.toString( ));
}
}
ByteArrayOutputStream
It is an implementation of an output stream that uses a byte array as the destination.
ByteArrayOutput Stream writer writes to memory. It should be used only when the amount of
data to be written can safely be accomodated in memory as writing only a few megabytes will
cause problems.
ByteArrayOutputStream( )
ByteArrayOutputStream (int numBytes)
This class provides for some extra methods above minimal write( ) method defined by
OutputStream.
void writeTo(OutputStream out) throws IOException.
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18.11 FILTEREDBYTESTREAM
void set (int index)Filtered streams are simply wrappers around underlying input or output streams
and provide extended level of functionality such as buffering, character translation. The classes
are FilterInputStream and FilterOutputStream.
The constructors are:
FilterOutputStream(OutputStreams OS)
FilterInputStream(InputStream is)
The classes provided in these classes are identical to those in InputStream and OutputStream.
18.12 BUFFEREDBYTESTREAM
For the byte oriented streams, a buffered stream extends a filtered stream class by attaching a
memory buffer to the Input/Output streams. This allows J ava to do Input/Output operations on
more than a byte at a time, hence, increasing performance. You can use skipping, marking, resetting
of the stream.
BufferedInputStream has two constructors:
BufferedInputStream (InputStream is) // creates buffered stream
using a default buffer size.
BufferedInputStream (InputStream, int buffsize) // creates buffered
stream with specified size.
BufferedInputStream allows you to wrap any input stream into buffered stream. In Buffer Output
Stream the constructors used are:
BufferedOutputStream(OutputStream os) // default 512 bytes
BufferedOutputStream(OutputStream os, int Buffsize)
BufferedOutputStream is similar to any output stream with the exception of an added flush( )
method that is used to ensure that data buffers are physically written to the actual output device.
Since the BufferedOutputStream is used to improve performance by reducing number of times the
system actually writes data, you may need to call flush( ) to cause any data that is in the buffer to
get written.
18.13 PRINTSTREAM
The PrintStream class provides all of the formatting capabilities which were used from the system
file handle System.out.
System.out stream is a PrintStream. All outputs are in the form of 8 bit bytes. A PrintStream throws
IOExceptions and sets an internal flag when one occurs. This class does not correctly handle
unicode characters, hence programmers are encouraged to use the PrintWriter class instead of
PrintStream. Java's PrintStream objects support the print( ), println( ) methods for all types including
object. If an argument is not of a simple type, the PrintStream methods will call the objects'
toString( ) method and then print the result.
PrintStream has two constructors:
PrintStream(OutputStream OutStream);
PrintStream(OutputStream OutputStream; boolean flushOnnewLine);
If FlushOnnewLine is true, flushing automatically takes place every time when (\n) character is
output.
18.14 RANDOMACCESSFILE
Files are normally read and written sequentially. Sometimes you need the ability to go to a specific
location in the file. RandomAccess class encapsulates a random access file. It is not derived from
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Input Output Classes InputStream or OutputStream. It implements DataInput or DataOutput which define the basic
Input/Output methods. It supports positioning file pointer within the file. The constructors are:
RandomAccessFile(File fobj, String access) throws IOException.
RandomAccessFile(String filename, String access) throws IOException
In the first form, fobj specifies the name of the file to open as File object. In the second form, file
is passed as file name. Access modes are "r" (the file can be read) and "rw" (the file can be opened
in readwrite mode).
A RandomAccessFile has a file pointer that determines where in the file the next read or write
operation will occur. When the file is initially opened, this pointer is at 0 (the beginning of the file).
After that, it is positioned where last read or write ended. You can position this pointer with the
seek method and write data at that position (Existing data is "pushed" to make space). A position
is specified in bytes from beginning of file.
void seek(long newpos) throws IOException.
In addition to methods for reading an arbitrary number of bytes into a buffer, the RandomAccessFile
class implements all the methods called by the DataInput and DataOutput interfaces. This means
that there are methods for reading and writing all J ava primitives plus String objects. In addition,
one new method is added.
Void setLength(long len) throws IOException. This method sets the length of the invoking file to
that specified by len. This method is used to lengthen or shorten a file.
Example:
public class randomfile
{
public static void main (String args [ ])
throws IOException
{
RandomAccessFile rf = new RandomAccessFile ("abc", "rw")
for (int i = 0, i <10; i++)
rf.writeDouble (i * 3.14);
rf.close( );
rf.new RandomAccessFile ("abc", "rw");
rf.seek (5 *8);
rf.writeDouble (2.71);
rf.close( );
}
}
18.15 STREAMTOKENIZER
Tokenizing some input means reducing it to a simpler stream of tokens. A stream can contain three
types of entities:
Words (multicharacter tokens)
Single-Character tokens
Whitespace including J ava comments
Before you start processing a stream into tokens, you must define which ASCII characters should
be treated as one of the three possible input types. You can get next token by calling nextToken( )
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method of StreamTokenizer class. This method returns type of token it produced. It can either be
multicharacter TT_WORD token or a single character token in which case return value holds the
ASCII code for that character. If Stream is exhausted, nextToken( ) returns TT_EOF. If you have
enabled end-of-line checking by invoking eolIsSignificant (true), TT_EOL will be returned each
time the end of line is reached. TT_number will be returned each time numbers are encountered in
the stream. Before starting to call nextToken( ), you should set up syntax table for the input stream
using wordChars( ) and whitespaceChars( ) methods.
StreamTokenizer breaks up the InputStream into tokens that are limited by a set of characters.
Constructor
StreamTokenizer(Reader inStream)
Methods
void eolIsSignificant(boolean eolflag) true the end of line is returned as tokens false the
end of line char is ignored.
void wordchars(int start, int end) specifies the range of characters that can be used in
words.
void range is 33 to 255
void whitespaceChars(int start, int end)
start-end is the range of whitespace characters.
nextToxen( ) obtains next token from input string and returns type of token.
type is the public variable returned by nextToken( ) and can keep following types.
TT_WORD : If token is a word
TT_NUMBER : If token is a character
TT_EOL : End of line encountered. this assumes that eolIs
Significant( ) was invoked with 'true' flag
TT_EOF : If end of stream is encountered
Word Count with Stream Tokenizer
import java.io.*;
class Wrd
{
public static int w = 0;
public static int l = 0;
public static int c = 0;
public static void wc (Reader r) throws IOException
{
StreamTokenizer tok = new StreamTokenizer(r);
tok.resetSyntax( ).
tok.wordChars (35, 255);
tok.whitespaceChars (0, ' ');
tok.eolIsSignificant (true);
while (tok.nextToken( ) ! = tok.TT_EOF)
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{
switch (tok.ttype)
{
case tok.TT_EOL:
i++;
c++;
break;
case tok.TT_WORD;
w++;
default :
c + = tok.val.length( );
break;
}
} }
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
try
{
wc (new FileReader ("a.dat"));
System.out.println ("a.dat :" + "lines
=" + l + "words = "+w + "chars = "+c);
}
catch (IOException c)
{
System.out.println ("error");
}
}}
18.16 STREAM BENEFITS
Streaming interface to Input/Output in J ava provides a clean abstraction for a complex and often
cumbersome task. Filtered stream classes allow you to dynamically build the custom streaming
interface to suit your data transfer requirements.
Student Activity 3
1. What is the role of ByteArray Input Stream ?
2. What is the role of ByteArray Output Stream ?
3. What is the role of FilteredByte Stream ?
4. What is the role of BufferedByte Stream ?
5. Describe PrintStream Class.
6. What is the function of stream Tokenizer ?
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18.17 SUMMARY
All devices in J ava are handled by same abstraction called stream. Stream is a logical entity
which either produces or consumes information.
You can send output to consol output through System.out.println. Here, "out" is an instance
variable in System class. "out" is object of PrintStream class. The object is kept in memory
so that you can refer to any of its method such as println( ).
Standard input is represented by System.in. Here, "in" is an object of InputStream class.
"in" does not enable you to read one line at a time or to read a java primitive. When you
want to read an entire line from the console you must wrap System.in with InputStreamReader
and BufferedReader.
The file class in java represents tha name of the file, directory or set of files. A file object is
used to retrieve different file attributes.
InputStream and OutputStream classes are designed for byte streams.
Reader and Writer classes are designed for character streams (Unicode characters).
Methods in the stream class throw IOException.
FileInputStream and FileOutputStream classes are used to handle disk files.
to read a data file Use FileOutputStream. Wrap it with BufferedInputStream then with
DataInputStream.
RandomAccessFile class enables you to position the file pointer at any location in the file
and allows reading and writing.
18.18 KEYWORDS
File : An abstraction used to represent any form of text or data in a permanent form.
Directory : A file that contains a list of other files and directories.
Input Stream : An abstract class that defines J avas model of streaming byte input.
FileInputStream : The class which creates an InputStream that can be used to read bytes from a
file.
FileOutputStream : The class which creates an OutputStream that can be used to write bytes to
a file.
PrintStream : The class that provides all of the formatting capabilities which were used from the
system file handle system.out.
Random Access File Class : Enables you to position the file pointer at any location in the file and
allows reading and writing.
18.19 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is a file ? Why do we require files to store data ?
2. What is a stream ? What are the benefits of stream ?
3. Distinguish between
a. InputStream and Reader Classes
b. OutputStream and Writer Classes
4. Describe the function of File class.
5. Why do we need random access files ?
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Input Output Classes 6. How will you check whether a file to be opened for writing already exists?
7. How is double type value read from the keyboard ?
8. The programmer must explicitly create the System.in and System.out objects. True / False.
9. If the file pointer points to a location in a sequential file other than the beginning, we must
use the seek method to bring the pointer to the beginning, to read from the beginning of the
file again. True / False.
10. To delete a file, we can use an instance of class File. True / False.
11. Reader class has a method that can read and return floats and doubles. True / False.
12. Unicode characters are all 16 bits. True / False.
13. File class can be used to rename a file. True / False.
14. DataOuputStream objects are used to write primitive data to a file. True / False.
15. DataInput is
a. an abstract class
b. used to read primitive datatype.
c. interface that defines method to open files.
d. interface that defines method to read primitive data types.
16. Which of the following statements are valid?
a. new DataInputStream( );
b. new DataInputStream (new File ("in.dat"));
c. new DataInputStream ("in.dat");
d. new DataInputStream (new FileInputStream ("in.dat")):
17. Which exception is thrown by read( ) method?
a. Exception
b. FileNotFoundException
c. ReadException
d. IOException
18. Given f is a File Object, which of the following are legal statements to create a new file?
a. file.create( )
b. new FileOUtputStream (file);
c. new FileWriter (file);
d. new FileInputStream (file);
e. new RandomAccessFile (file);
19. Given below is the code for creating File object myFile. What happens when the given code
is run ?
File createFile (String name)
{
File myFile = new File (name);
return myfile;
}
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a. A new empty file with that name is created but not opened.
b. The current directory changes to specified name.
c. A new empty file with that name is created and opened.
d. None of the above
20. Which of the following are not abstract classes or interfaces ?
a. InputStream
b. PrintStream
c. Reader
d. DataInput
21. Write a program to echo every line entered by the user, unless the line is an empty line (in
which case, the program terminates).
22. Write a program to copy the text file called "UPTEC.DAT" to "BACKUP.DAT". Also write
the same program using the FileInputStream and FileOutputStream.
23. Write a program to create a datafile called temperature.dat. User enters temperature of the
day after every few seconds and the data will be noted down in the data file. Also find out
the highest temperature of the day.
24. Write a program to display all the subdirectories present on the harddisk.
25. Write a program to count number of characters, number of words and lines in the file.
26. Write a program to create a random access file that can store details of about five employees.
Details include empno, name, address, salary. Calculate total salary given to all employees.
Also display alternate records.
18.20 FURTHER READINGS
I.a dhotre, Operating System, Technical Publications.
Lang holx kandel Gideon, Abraham Kandel J oe L. Mott, Foundation of Digital logic Design,
World Scientific.
UNIT
19
NETWORKING
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe the basics of networking
Describe proxy server
Describe domain name services
Describe networking classes and interfaces
Describe InetAddress class
Describe TCP / IP sockets
Describe datagram pocket
Describe networth.
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
19.1 Introduction
19.2 Basics of Networking
19.3 Proxy Server
19.4 Domain Naming Services
19.5 Networking Classes and Interfaces
19.6 InetAddress Class
19.7 TCP / IP Sockets
19.8 Datagram Packet
19.9 Networth
19.10 Summary
19.11 Keywords
19.12 Review Questions
19.13 Further Readings
19.1 INTRODUCTION
This unit explores the java.net package which provides support for networking. Its creators have
called it java "programming language that makes it more appropriate for writing networked
programs than, say C++or FORTRAN". What makes java a good language for networking are the
classes defined in the java.net package.
19.2 BASICS OF NETWORKING
When two or more computers want to communicate with each other to share data or resources
then the communications among them can be done through networking.
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Overview of Socket
A Socket is a handle to a communication link with another application over the network. In other
words a socket is a software interface that connects an application to the network. Sockets are
often used in client/server applications. A centralised service waits for various remote machines
to request specific resources, handling each request as it arrives. In order that clients know how
to communicate with the server, standard application protocols are assigned well known ports.
Overview of Client/Server
You might be aware of the term Client/Server mentioned in the context of networking. A client is
an entity that relies on another entity to accomplish some task. A server is an entity whose sole
purpose is to serve clients by providing them with some kind of well-defined services such as
searching a database or accepting mail messages. The interaction between client and server is
just like the interaction between a lamp and an electrical socket. The power grid of the house is the
server and the lamp is the power client. The server is a permanently available resource whereas
the client is free to unplug after it has been served.
The notion of a socket allows a single computer to serve many different clients at once, as well as
serving many different types of information. This is managed by the introduction of a port, which
is a numbered socket on a particular machine. A server process can listen to a port number,
although each session is unique. A session process must be multithreaded to manage multiple
client connections.
Reserved Sockets
TCP/IP has 65,536 different TCP ports (or sockets) to which every machine can talk. The following
table defines the standard TCP ports:
Port Name Port Number Description
echo 7 Displays whatever is sent by the user
discard 9 Discards whatever is sent by the user.
daytime 13 Gives the local time of the destination machine.
qotd 17 Give the "quote of the day" for the machine.
changer 19 Generates a test stream of characters.
ftp 21 FTP Port.
telnet 23 Telnet Protocol Port.
smtp 25 SMTP Port.
finger 79 Finger Protocol Port.
http 80 Web Server Port.
pop3 110 Pop Version 3 Port.
nntp 119 NNTP Port.
19.3 PROXY SERVER
A proxy server speaks the client side of a protocol to another server. This is often required when
clients have certain restrictions on which servers they can connect to. Thus a client would
connect to a proxy server which did not have such restrictions and the proxy server would in turn
communicate for the client. A proxy server has the additional ability to filter certain requests or
cache the results of those requests for future use. A caching proxy HTTP server can help reduce
the bandwidth demands on a local network's connection to the Internet.
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19.4 DOMAIN NAMING SERVICES
The Internet would'nt be a very friendly place to navigate if everyone had to refer to their
addresses as numbers. J ust as the four numbers of an IP address describe a network hierarchy
from left to right, the name of an Internet address, called its domain name, describes a machine's
location in a name space from right to left. For example, www.yahoo.com is in the com domain
(commercial sites), it is called Yahoo (company name) and www is the name of the specific
computer. www corresponds to rightmost number in the equivalent IP address.
19.5 NETWORKING CLASSES AND INTERFACES
The classes contained in the java.net package are listed here
Authenticator (java2) JavaURLConnection (java2)
ContentHandler MultiCastSocket URL
DatagramPacket NetPermission URLClassLoader
DatagramSocket PasswordAuthentication URLConnection
DatagramSocketImpl ServerSocket URLDecoder
HttpURLConnection Socket URLEncoder
InetAddress SocketImpl ContentHandlerFactory
SocketPermission
SocketImplFactory URLStreamHandlerFactory FileNameMap
SocketOptions
Student Activity 1
1. What is a socket ?
2. Give an overview of client / server networking.
3. What is a Proxy Server ?
4. List some classes contained in java.net package.
19.6 INETADDRESS CLASS
As you know, when you want to estabish a connection between two machines across the Internet
or any other kind of network, addresses are fundamental. The InetAddress class is used to
convert the Domain Name (or textual Internet address) of an Internet address into an object which
represents the address. The InetAddress class doesn't have any constructors but it has three
factory methods that can be used to create instances of the InetAddress class.
NOTE According to Object Oriented Program, the term factory applies to a class that can
construct instances of that class without invoking constructors. The instance of the
class are constructed through static methods built into the class.
Methods (Factory/Instance) of InetAddress Class
The following are the factory methods of InetAddress Class.
static InetAddress getLocalHost( ) throws UnknownHostException.
static InetAddressgetByName (String hostname) throws UnknownHostException
static InetAddress [ ] getAllByName (String hostname)
thrown UnknownHostException
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The getLocalHost( ) method returns the InetAddress object that represents the local host. The
getByName (String hostname) method takes the hostname as a parameter and returns the
InetAddress object.
The getAllByName (String hostname) method returns an array of InetAddress objects that includes
all the addresses that a particular name (passed as a parameter to the method) resolves to.
Program 1:
import java.net.*;
class uptecdemoInetAddress1
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
throws UnknownHostException
{
InetAddress idr;
idr = InetAddress.getLocalHost( );
System.out.println (idr);
}
}
The output produced by the program will be different from the one given below :
tr 7comph/132.147.168.17
Program 2
The following program displays the name and address of the machine whose host name is given
by the user.
import java.io.*;
import java.net.*;
class DemoInetAddress2
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
throws UnknownHostException, IOException
{
InetAddress adr;
String host;
BufferedReader str = new BufferedReader
(new InputStreamReader (System.in));
System.out.print ("Enter the Machines | host name:");
host = str.readLine( );
adr = InetAddress.getByName (host);
System.out.println (adr);
}
}
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NOTE BufferedReader and InputStreamReader are defined in the java.io package. The
BufferedReader class includes methods which allow you to read text lines from a
character InputStream. Since the standard input (System.in) is a byte stream, the
Input StreamReader class converts the byte stream of the standard input, System.in,
into a character stream. The method readLine( ) allows you to read text lines from an
input stream.
The output produced by this program is as follows (the output will vary according to the input):
Enter the Machine's host name : Machine1 Machine1/130. 130. 15. 24
Enter the Machine's host name : Uptec
Uptec / 130. 130. 15. 25
InetAddress class also defines some non static methods which can be used on objects returned
by the factory methods.
Methods Purpose
String getHostName( ) Returns the string representation of the host name
associated with the InetAddressObject.
byte[ ] getAddress( ) Returns an array of four bytes representing the
numeric address of the host. This array of bytes
cannot be printed directly by caching them to int.
They have to be copied into an array of integers
while ANDing with 255 to undo sign-extending.
String toString( ) Returns a string that consists of the host name and
the IP Address, For example Uptec/130.130.15.25.
This function can be overridden.
boolean equals(/InetAddress addr) Returns true if the invoking object has the same
Internet address as addr.
Let us see an example which demonstrates the usage of the getAddress( ) method and overriding
of the toString( ) method to display the Internet address.
Program 4
import java.net.*;
class Uptec
{
static InetAddress adr;
byte[ ] numaddr;
byte[ ] numadr;
String Addrmsg;
Uptec( ) throws UnknownHostException
{
adr = InetAddress.getLocalHost( );
numadr = adr.getAddress( );
Addrmsg = adr.getHostName( ) +"/";
}
public String toString( )
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{
for (int i = 0; i < numadr.length; i++)
Addrmsg + = (Numadr[i] & 255) +".";
return "The local machine|'s address is :" + Addrmsg;
}
}
19.7 TCP/IP SOCKETS
TCP/IP sockets are used to implement reliable, bidirectional, persistent, point to point, stream
based between two hosts on the Internet. A socket can be used to connect J ava's Input/Output
system to other programs that may reside either on the local machine or any other machine on the
Internet.
In J ava, TCP sockets are classified as:
TCP Server Socket
TCP Client Socket
The java.net package provides two classes that allow you to create the two kinds of sockets. The
classes are Socket and ServerSocket respectively. The Socket class, basically used to create
client sockets, is designed to connect to server sockets and initiate protocol exchanges. The
ServerSocket class, basically used to create server sockets, is designed to be a listener, which
waits for clients to connect before doing anything.
When you create a Socket object, it implicitly establishes the connection between the client and
the server. The Socket class provides some constructors to create client sockets.
Constructor Description
Socket (String hostname, int port) This constructor is used to create a client
throws UnknownHostExecption, socket and connect the local host to the
IOException specified hostName and port. It can throw an
UnknownHostException or an IOException.
Socket (InetAddress ipAddress, int port) This constructor is used to create a client
throws IOException socket using a pre existing InetAddress
object and a port. It can throw an IOException.
After you have created a socket, you can get the address and port details associated with the
socket by the use of the following methods:
Method Description
InetAddress getInetAddress ( ) Returns the address associated with the
socket instance.
int getPort( ) Returns the remote port to which this socket
is connected.
int getLocalPort( ) Returns the local port to which this socket
instance is connected.
Since TCP is a stream based protocol, every TCP socket is associated with input and output
streams.
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NOTE Remember there should be two ports for all TCP connections, a port on the remote
machine and a port on the local machine, through which the client communicates.
The local port number need not be specified because the TCP/IP software allocates
these ports dynamically. These ports are called ephemeral ports because they exist
only for the duration of a volatile client/server transaction.
As discussed earlier, J ava defines another class that must be used to create server applications.
The ServerSocket class is used to create servers that listen for either local or remote client
programs to connect to them on standard ports.
Constructor Description
ServerSocket (Int port) throws This constructor is used to create a server socket
IOException on the specified port with a default queue length of
50.
ServerSocket (int port, int queue This constructor is used to create a server socket
length) throws IOException on the specified port with the specified queue
length. It can throw an IOException.
Writing Client/Server Systems using TCP
To write a Server program:
Step 1 : Create the server socket and begin listening.
Setp 2 : Call the accept( ) method to get new connections.
Setp 3 : Create input and output streams for the returned socket.
Step 4 : Conduct the conversation based on the agreed protocol.
Step 5 : Close the Client Stream and the Socket.
Step 6 : Go back to step 2 or continue to step 7.
Step 7 : Close the Server Socket.
Program 1
For using TCP for a server program which sends the current data to the client upon its request
and terminates when the client wants to quit.
import java.io.*;
import java.net.*;
import java.util.*;
class TCPServer
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
ServerSocket server;
Socket recSocket;
PrintWriter on;
BufferedReader i;
String msg;
server = new ServerSocket (8001);
for (; ;)
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{
recSocket = Server.accept( );
i = new BufferedReader (new InputStreamReader
(recSocket.getInputStream( )));
on = new PrintWriter (new OutputStreamWriter
(recSocket.getOutputStream( )));
on.println (server);
on flush( );
msg = i.readline( );
if (msg.equals ("Date"))
msg = "Client asked for "+msg+" and the current
date is " + (new Date( )).toString( );
else
if (msg.equals ("Quit"))
System.exit(1);
else
msg = "Invalid Request";
on.println (msg);
on.flush( );
i.close( );
on.close( );
recSocket.close( );
}
}
}
To write a Client Program:
Setp 1 : Create the Client Socket Connection.
Step 2 : Acquire read and write streams for the socket.
Step 3 : Use the streams according to the server's protocol.
Step 4 : Close the streams.
Step 5 : Close the socket.
import java.io.*
import java.net.*;
class TCPClient
{
public static void main (String args[ ]) throws
IOException
{
Socket socket;
BufferedReader in;
PrintWriter out;
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Networking
String request;
socket = new Socket ("Vandana", 8001);
out = new PrintWriter (new OutputStreamWriter
(Socket.getInputStream( )));
System.out.println ("Server says :"+ in.readLine( ));
DataInputStream i = new DataInputStream (System.in);
System.out.print ("Client can Request for Date or
quit :");
request = i.readLine( );
out.println (request);
out.flush( );
System.out.println ("server responds:" +
in.readLine));
in.close( ).
out.close( );
socket.close( );
}
}
19.8 DATAGRAM PACKET
The java.net package provides two classes namely, DatagramPacket and DatagramSocket through
which you can communicate with remote systems. A UDP Datagram is encapsulated in an instance
of the class DatagramPacket.
The DatagramPacket object is the container for the data while the DatagramSocket is used to
send or receive the datagram packets.
The class DatagramPacket defines two constructors which allow you to create datagram packet.
The first constructor is used for receiving data over a datagram socket.
DatagramPacket (byte buffer[ ], int size)
The second constructor is used for transmitting datagrams. This constructor requires the
destination machine's address and port number from the buffer and the size parameters.
DatagramPacket (byte buffer, int size, InetAddress destination, int port)
Other methods defined in the class DatagramPacket are
Method Description
InetAddress getAddress( ) Returns the destination machine's address.
int getPort( ) Returns the portnumber.
byte [ ] getData( ) Returns data contained in the datagram.
int getLength( ) Returns the length of the valid data contained in
the byte array returned from the getData( ) method.
DatagramPacket class does not provide the mechanism of sending and receiving datagrams. The
companion class DatagramSocket provides this functionality.
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Constructor Description
DatagramSocket( ) throws This constructor is used to create a socket at an
SocketException unused port generally used for client applications.
DatagramSocket (int port) This constructor is used to specify a particular port
throws SocketException which is useful for server applications.
DatagramSocket (int port, This constructor is used for machines having
InetAddress addr) throws multiple IP addresses. You can use this constructor
SocketException send and listen for datagrams from one of the IP
addresses assigned to the machine.
The important methods are:
Method Description
void send (DatagramPacket packet) This method sends the datagram's data to the
throws IOException previously defined host and port by taking a
DatagramPacket object as a parameter.
void receive (DatagramPacket p) This method receives a datagram by taking a
throw IOException DatagramPacket object as a parameter. To extract
data from the received datagram use the getData( )
method defined in the DatagramPacket Class.
void close ( ) This method closes the opened datagram socket.
Server and Client
Program 1
This program displays the local time at the specified web site where the web site's name is typed
at the command line.
import java.net.*;
import jave.io.*;
class daytimedemo
{
final static int DAY_TIME_PORT = 13;
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
DatagramSocket socket;
InetAddress Destination;
DatagramPacket datagram;
byte dataSend[ ] = new byte [256];
String dataReceive;
if (args.length = = 0)
{
System.out.println ("Usage: Java Day time
Demo");
System.exit (0);
}
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try
{
socket = new DatagramSocket( );
Destination = InetAddress.getByName (args[0]);
datagram = new DatagramPacket
(datasend, datasend.Length,
destination, DAY_TIME_PORT);
socket.send (datagram);
datagram = new DatagramPacket
(datasend, datasend.length);
socket.receive (datagram);
datareceive = new String(datagram.getData( ));
System.out.println (The time at the
site"+destination.getHostName( ) + "is" +
dataReceive);
Socket.close( );
}
catch (UnknownHostException h)
{
System.out.println ("The website is unknown");
}
catch (IOException I)
{
System.out.println ("Error in sending
or receiving datagram");
}
catch (socketException s){System.out.println
("Socket cannot be created");}
}
}
19.9 NETWORTH
Given the five classes, InetAddress, Socket, ServerSocket, DatagramSocket and DatagramPacket,
you can program any Internet protocol in existence. They also give you powerful low level
control over Internet connections.
Student Activity 2
1. Describe InetAddress class.
2. Describe factory methods of InetAddress class.
3. What is the use of TCP/IP sockets ?
4. Describe some constructors provided by socket class.
5. How can you get the address and port details associated with the socket ?
6. Write an algorithm to write a server program.
7. Write an algorithm to write a client program.
8. What is a datagram pocket ?
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19.10 SUMMARY
J ava is the first programming language developed with built in support for network
programming. This is possible with the help of the classes defined in the java.net package.
A socket is a handle to a communication link over the network, with another application. In
other words, a socket is a software interface that connects an application to the network.
Sockets are often used in client/server applications.
A socket allows a single computer to serve many clients at once, as well as serving many
different types of information.
A server process can listen to a port only when a client connects to it. A server can accept
multiple clients connected to the same port number.
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is a set of communication
protocols for communication between different types of machines and networks.
TCP is a connection oriented data stream service. A connection is required between two
computers before sending data via TCP.
The InetAddress class is used to convert the DomainName (textual Internet address) of an
Internet address into an object which represents that address.
The java.net package provides two classes, namely DatagramPacket and DatagramSocket,
through which you can communicate with remote systems.
The java.net package provides two classes that allow you to create two kinds of TCP
Sockets. The classes are Socket and ServerSocket.
19.11 KEYWORDS
Socket : A software interface that connects an application to the network.
Port : A numbered socket on a particular machine.
Client : An entity that relies on another entity to accomplish some task.
Server : An entity whose sole purpose is to serve by clients providing them with some kind of
well-defined services such as searching a database or accepting mail messages.
Domain name : The name off an Internet address that describes a machines location in a name
space from right to left.
InetAddress Class : A class used to convert the Domain name of an Internet address into an
object which represents the address.
Datagram Packet : A class used to communicate with remote systems.
19.12 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Fill in the blanks:
a. J ava provides in built support for network programming through classes defined in
the _________ package.
b. A _________ is a software interface that connects applications over a network.
c. ________ is a numeric addressing scheme, while ________is a textual addressing
method.
d. __________ is the networking protocol supported by J ava.
e. __________ class is used to convert the domain name of an Internet address into an
object, which represents that address.
2. State whether the following are true or false.
a. A server can accept multiple clients connected to the same port.
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Networking b. A factory method is another name for a constructor and is used to create instances of
a class.
c. The DatagramPacket class uses factory methods to create datagram instances.
d. As soon as a socket object is created, it implicitly establishes a connection between
the server and the client.
3. Write a program to demonstrate the usage of the getAddress ( ) method and overriding the
toString( ) method.
4. Write a program to show a datagram client. It reads user input strings and sends them to the
echo server (already made), the echo server sends the data right back and the client prints
the response to the console.
5. Write a program to display the local time at the specified web site where the web site's name
is typed at the command line.
Answers to Review Questions :
1. (a) java.net (b) Socket (c) IP Address, Domain name system
(d) TCP / IP (e) Inet Address
2. (a) False (b) True (c) True (d) True
19.13 FURTHER READINGS
Herbert Schildt ; Java: The Complete Reference, J2SE TM ; 2005, Mc Graw-Hill Professional.
J im Farley ; OReilly, Java Distributed Computing.
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20
APPLET CLASS
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe applet basics
Understand applet life cycle
Understand a simple banner applets
Understand how to handle events.
Describe applet context interface
Describe audioclip and applet stub interface.
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
20.1 Introduction
20.2 Applet Basics
20.3 Applet Life Cycle
20.4 A Simple Banner Applet
20.5 Handling Events
20.6 getDocumentBase( ), getCodeBase( ), ShowDocument( ), AppletContext Interface
getDocumentBase( )
20.7 AudioClip and AppletStub Interface
20.8 Summary
20.9 Keywords
20.10 Review Questions
20.11 Further Readings
20.1 INTRODUCTION
As you have learned, an applet is a small program that runs embedded in a web browser's HTML
page. Applet has a drawing or working area. When it starts running, it can immediately use its
applet area. In the previous unit, you were introduced to general applets and steps necessary to
compile and run one. In this unit we will learn about applets in detail.
20.2 APPLET BASICS
Traditionally, the word applet has come to mean any small application. In J ava, an applet is any
J ava program that is launched from a web document, that is from an HTML file. They can be
transported over the network from one computer to another. The size or complexity of a J ava
applet has no limit. J ava has revolutionized the way Internet users retrieve and use documents on
world wide network. J ava has enabled them to create and use fully interactive multimedia web
documents.
319
Applet Class
Java Source Code
Filename.java
Java class file
Filename.class
HTML Host File
Filename.html
Text Editor
Javadoc
HTML Documentation
Files
Javadoc
Javah
C/C++ Header files
appletviewer
Java Program
Output
Text Editor jdb
Java Source Code
Filename.java
Java class file
Filename.class
HTML Host File
Filename.html
Text Editor
Javadoc
HTML Documentation
Files
Javadoc
Javah
C/C++ Header files
appletviewer
Java Program
Output
Text Editor jdb
Figure 20.1 : How Java Applets are Built Using JDK
All applets must import java.applet. Since all applets run in a window, it is necessary to include
support for that window. Hence all applets must also import java.awt. Execution of an applet is
started and controlled with entirely different mechanism. Once an applet has been compiled, it is
included in an HTML file using Applet tag. The applet will be executed by a J ava enabled web
browser when it encounters the Applet tag within an HTML file. The browser contains a J VM to
interpret the J ava bytecodes, load J ava Classes and handle security issues.
The applet class is contained in J ava.applet package. Applet contains several methods that give
you control over the execution of your applet. In addition, java.applet also defines three interfaces:
AppletContext, AudioClip and AppletStub.
Applet Class
The Applet class must start with the two statements
import java. applet.*;
import java.awt.*;
The class used in the program should be extended from System defined Applet class. The Applet
class provides a number of entry points such as init( ), start( ), stop( ) and destroy( ) that are called
automatically by the browser or applet viewer. To build an applet you must extend applet and
override one or more of the methods.
public class App extends Applet
{
} // an example to show how to use Applet class.
All applets are subclasses of the Applet class in the java.applet package. When your applet is
downloaded, the browser creates an instance of your applet class and calls various documented
methods at strategic moments to tell your applet to do something.
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Applets must have two kinds of behaviour:
Behaviour to work as part of a browser and handle occurrences such as the browser page
being reloaded.
Behaviour to present a graphical user interface and take inputs from users. They appear
within the HTML page in the browser and can contain controls such as buttons, list boxes
and so on.
All applets must be declared public because the Applet class is a public class.
Architecture
The Applet class is inherited from the Panel class which is inherited from the Container class. The
abstract container class inherits many methods from the abstract component class.
java.lang.Object
java.awt.Component
java.awt.Container
java.awt.Panel
java.applet.Applet
java.lang.Object
java.awt.Component
java.awt.Container
java.awt.Panel
java.applet.Applet
An applet is a window based event driven program and it waits until an event occurs. The AWT
notifies the applet about an event by calling an event handler that has been provided by applet.
Applet should not enter a "mode" of operation in which it maintains control for an extended
period. In these situations you must start an additional thread of execution.
The user initiates interaction with an applet. For example, when the user clicks a mouse inside the
applet's window, a mouse-clicked event is generated. Applets can contain many controls such as
push button check boxes. When the user interacts with one of these controls, an event isgenerated.
Begin (Load
Applet)
Born Initialization
Start( )
Running
Paint( )
Display Idle Stopped
Stop( )
Destroy( )
Start( )
Dead Destroyed End
Exit from Browser
Begin (Load
Applet)
Born Initialization
Start( )
Running
Paint( )
Display Idle Stopped
Stop( )
Destroy( )
Start( )
Dead Destroyed End
Exit from Browser
Figure 20.2
321
Applet Class
public class Appskel extends Applet
{
public void init( )
{
// initialization
}
public void start( )
{
// start or resume execution
}
public void stop( )
{
// suspend execution
}
public void destroy( )
{
// perform shutdown activities
}
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
// redisplay contents of window
}
}
This skeleton generates the blank applet window when viewed with an applet viewer. This
skeleton does not do anything.
20.3 APPLET LIFE CYCLE
It can initialize itself. It can start running. It can stop running. It can perform a final cleanup in
preparation for being unloaded. When an applet begins, the AWT calls following methods in
sequence:
init( ),
start( ),
paint( ).
When an applet is terminated, stop( ) and destroy( ) methods are called in sequence.
Initialization
When the browser downloads an HTML page containing applets, it creates an instance for each
of the Applet classes, using the no arg constructor. Applet must have a no argument constructor
otherwise it cannot be loaded. Initialization can be done through init( ). The init( ) method is the
first method to be called. It is used to initialize the applet each time it is reloaded. Applets can be
used for setting up an initial state, loading images or fonts, or setting parameters. For example:
public void init( )
{ // code here}
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Immediately after calling init( ), the browser calls the start( ) method. start( ) is also called when
user returns to an HTML page that contains the applet. So, if the user leaves a web page and
comes back, the applet resumes execution at start( ). The paint( ) method is called each time your
applet's output must be redrawn. This situation can occur for several reasons. For example,
window may be minimized and then restored. Paint( ) method is also called when applet begins
execution.
Termination
The stop( ) is called automatically whenever the user moves away from the HTML page that
contains an applet. The stop( ) method is used to suspend the applet's execution so that it does
not take up system resources when the user is not viewing the page or has quit the browser. For
example, the processor intensive activities such as animation can be stopped which will not be
visible to the user until the user returns to the page. destroy( ) is available for applets that need
to release additional resources. The browser calls destroy( ) immediately before the applet is
unloaded from memory and after calling its stop( ) method. If you have an applet which displays
animation or sound continuously through its start( ) method, such an applet would be very
wasteful of processor resources if it keeps on animating even after the user switches to a different
page. The effective way would be to put animation in a separate thread. This way whenever the
applet's page is displayed by new page, you can simply freeze the thread and when the applet's
page is reloaded, you can let the thread run again. This is the purpose of start( ) and stop( )
methods of applet.
Update Method
This method is called when your applet has requested that a portion of its window be redrawn.
Basically to use update( ) method, paint( ) method should be clear.
paint( ) method is used to display on the screen.
repaint( ) method is used to repaint or redisplay the same area and object but it calls
update( ) method first.
update( ) method clears the screen of an existing content by filling it with the background color of
the Applet. Then, the update( ) method calls the paint( ) method. So, we can say repaint( ) method
calls update( ) which in turn calls paint( ).
Display Methods
Painting is how an applet displays something on screen be it text, a line, a colored background,
or an image. The paint( ) method is used for displaying anything on the applet. paint( ) method
takes an argument, an instance of class graphics. The code given can be as follows
public void paint (Graphics g)
{ }
where Graphics class contains the member functions that can be used to display the output to the
browser.
text String, the drawString( ) method is used.
g.drawString (String S, int x, int y)
where x and y are the coordinate positions on the screen and S is the string to be output.
Example :
g.drawString ("hello", 10,20);
The source code is :
import java.applet.Applet;
import java.awt.*;
public class rect extends Applet
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{
public void init( )
{
resize (50, 600); // to set the size of the display window
}
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
g.drawString ("plain text", 15, 48);
g.setColor (Color.red);
g.drawString ("colored text", 15, 68);
}
}
drawLine( ) method is used to draw line from starting x and y coordinates to ending x1 and y1
coordinates.
Method : drawLine ( )
Syntax : drawLine (int x, int y, int x1, int y1);
To set the background color of an applet window and the color in which the text is shown, the
following methods are used. These methods are defined in component class. A good place to set
background and foreground color is init( ) method.
void setBackground (Color newcolor);
void setForeground (Color newcolor);
You can obtain color settings for background and foreground colors by calling getBackground(
) and getForeground( ) respectively. These are also defined in component class.
Syntax : Color getBackground( )
Color getForeground( )
A simple Applet :
import java.awt.*;
import java.applet.*;
public class colorApp extends Applet
{
String msg;
public void init( )
{
setBackground (Color.cyan); // color.cyanis a.constant
setForeground (Color.red); // defined in Color class
}
public void start( )
{
System.out.println ("inside Start");
}
public void paint (Graphics g)
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{
msg + = "Inside paint";
g.drawString (msg, 10, 30);
}
}
20.4 A SIMPLE BANNER APPLET
Applet writes to its window when its update( ) or paint( ) method is called. How does an applet
update its window when the information to be displayed changes ? For example, in a moving
banner application, how does the applet use update method when banner scrolls ? Due to the
fundamental constraint imposed on applet that it must return control to AWT run time system, we
cannot write a loop inside paint( ) that repeatedly scrolls the banner. The solution is to call
repaint( ) method defined by AWT. It causes the AWT run-time system to execute a call to your
applet's update( ) method which, in its default implementation, calls paint( ).
Syntax of repaint( ) method:
void repaint( ) / / causes entire window to be painted
void repaint(int left, int top, int width, int height);
If you want to update only a small portion of the window, it is more efficient to paint only that
region. Region may be defined by its top-left corner and height and width of the window.
NOTE It is possible for a method other than paint( ), update( ) to output to an applet's
window. To do so, it must obtain a graphics context by calling getGraphics( ) defined
by component class and then use this context to output to the window.
Example :
import java.awt.*;
import java.applet.*;
public class BannerApp extends Applet implements Runnable
{
String msg = "HAPPY COMPUTING";
Thread t = null
int state;
boolean flag;
// set color and thread
public void init( )
{
SetBackground (Color.cyan);
SetForeground (Color.red);
}
public void start( )
{
t = new Thread (this);
flag = false;
t.start( );
}
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public void run( )
{
char ch;
// display banner
for (; ;)
{
try
{
repaint( );
Thread.sleep (250);
ch = msg.charAt(0);
msg = msg.subString (1, msg.
length( ));
msg = msg + ch;
if (flag)
break;
}
catch (InterruptedException c)
{
}
}
}
public void stop( )
{
flag = true; t = null;
}
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
g.drawString (msg, 50, 30);
}
}
Student Activity 1
1. What is an Applet ?
2. How J ava Applets are built using J DK ?
3. Describe the behavioral attitude of applets.
4. Describe an Applets life cycle.
5. When does an Applet write to its window ?
20.5 HANDLING EVENTS
One of the things that you learned when creating applets for the first time is that forces are at work
behind the scenes as the program is running. Event Handling involves methods that are called
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automatically when a user action causes an event to take place. An event is generated in response
to just about anything that a user can do during the life cycle of a J ava program. Every movement
of the mouse, keypress, button click generates an event. Some events are:
Mouse Clicks mouse down, mouse up, mouse clicked.
Key Press keyPressed, keyReleased, keyTyped.
UserInterface event Button clicked, scrollbar moved up and down, popup menu popped and
so on. These events are supported by java.awt.event package.
The approach to handling events is based on the delegation event model which defines standard
and consistent mechanism to generate and process events. Its concept is quite simple. A source
generates an event and sends it to one or more listeners. In this scheme the listener simply waits
until it receives an event. Once received, the listener processes the event and then returns. The
advantage of this design is that the application logic that processes event is cleanly separated
from user interface logic that generates these events. A user interface element is able to delegate
the processing of an event to a separate piece of code.
Event is an object that describes a state change in a source. It can be generated
By user Interaction with GUI controls
E.g. pressing a button, entering characters via keyboard, selecting item in the list, clicking.
Not by interaction with GUI controls.
E.g. when times expires, a counter exceeds a value, a S/W / H/W failure occurs.
Event Source is an object that generates an event. Sources may generate more than one type
of event. A source must register listener in order to receive notifications about specific type of
event.
public void addTypeListener (TypeListener el)
e.g. add.keyListener( ), addMouseMotionListener( )
When an event occurs, all registered listeners are notified and receive a copy of the event object.
In all cases, notifications are sent only to listener that registers to receive them. Some sources
may allow only one listener to register.
public addTypeListener (TypeListener el)
throws java.util.TooManyListenersException
A source may unregister the listener in a specific type of event.
public void removeTypeListener (TypeListener 1);
Event Listener is an object that is notified when event occurs. EventListener object must
satisfy the following conditions:
It must have been registered with one or more sources to receive notifications about
specific events.
It must implement methods to receive and process these notifications. For e.g.
MouseMotionListener implements dragged and moved events.
Event Object
At the root of J ava event class is EventObject. It has the following methods:
getsource( ) returns source of the event
goString( ) returns string equivalent of the event
AWTEvent It is a subclass of EventObject and superclass for all AWT events. getID( ) to
determine type of the event is one of the methods available in AWTEvent class.
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Applet Class Important classes in java.awt.event package are ActionEvent, AdjustmentEvent, ComponentEvent,
ContainerEvent, FocusEvent, ItemEvent, KeyEvent, MouseEvent, TextEvent, WindowEvent.
ActionEvent Class Action Event is generated when button is pressed, list is double clicked or
menu item is selected. The following constants of ActionEvent class can be used to identify
modifiers associated with an event:
ACTION_PERFORMED -->to identify action events.
ALT-MASK
CTAL-MASK
META-MASK Used to identity any modification associated with the event
SHIFT-MASK
ActionEvent class has following constructors:
ActionEvent (Object src, int type, String cmd)
ActionEvent (object src, int type, String cmd, int modifiers)
object src : reference to the object that generated the event
int type : type of event
String cmd : command string
object entry : specific item
int state : the current state
Methods Object getItem( )
It is used to obtain object reference that generated the event.
The KeyEvent Class The KeyEvent is generated when keyboard input occurs.
There are three types of Events - KEY_PRESSED, KEY_RELEASED, KEY_TYPED.
Constants VK_0, VK_2, VK_A . . . etc. defines the ASCII equivalents of the numbers and
letters. Constants VK_ENTER, VK_ESCAPE, VK_UP, VK_LEFT, VK_SHIFT specify virtual key
codes.
Constructors
KeyEvent (component src, int type, long when, int modifiers, int c)
Where component src is a reference to the component that generated the event,
long when : systemtime at which key was pressed,
int type : specifies type of the event,
int c : VK_A
represents virtual key codes
VK_UP
int modifier : are passed here.
KeyEvent (component src, int type, long when, int modifier, int c, char ch)
ch contains character equivalent of key. If no valid character exists then VK_CHAR_UNDEFINED
is returned.
Methods char getKeyChar( ) method returns the character that was entered. int getKeyCode ( )
method returns the key code.
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MouseEvent Class There are seven events in this class.
MOUSE_CLICKED, MOUSE_DRAGGED, MOUSE_ENTERED, MOUSE_EXITED,
MOUSE_MOVED, MOUSE_PRESSED, MOUSE_RELEASED
MouseEvent is subclass of ItemEvent.
Constructor MouseEvent (Component src, int type, long when, int modifier, int x, int y, int
clicks, boolean trigpopup)
where,
Component src : specifies reference to the component that generated the event,
int clicks : specifies clickcount,
int type : specifies type of the event,
boolean trigpopup : flag indicates if this event causes a popup menu to appear,
int modifier : specifies which modifiers were pressed when a mouse event occurred.
Methods int getX( ), int getY( ), Point getPoint( )
int getClickCount( ), boolean isPopupTrigger( )
TextEvent Class The TextEvents, are generated by text fields and text areas when characters are
entered by user.
constants - TEXT_VALUE_CHANGED
constructor - TextEvent (object src, int type)
Here src is a reference to the object that generated the event and type of the event is specified by the.
WindowEventClass This class will be discussed later in detail. Window getWindow( ) is the
most import method which returns Window object that generated the event.
Event Listener Interface
The delegation event model has two parts : sources and listeners. Listeners are created by
implementing one or more of the interfaces defined by java.awt.event. When an event occurs,
event source invokes the appropriate method defined by the listener. The commonly used listener
interfaces are:
ActionListener, AdjustmentListener, ComponentListener (4 methods)
ContainerListener (2 methods),
FocusListener (2 methods),
ItemListener (1 method),
KeyListener (3 methods),
MouseListener (5 methods),
MouseMotionListener (2 methods), TextListener
(1 method), WindowListener (7 methods).
Methods in respective interfaces are:
void actionPerformed (ActionEvent ae)
void adjustmentValueChanged (AdjustmentEvent ae)
void componentMoved (ComponentEvent ce)
void focusLost (FocusEvent fe)
void itemStateChanged (ItemEvent ie)
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void keyPressed (KeyEvent ke)
void mouseClicked (MouseEvent me)
void mouseDragged (MouseEvent me)
void textChanged (TextEvent te)
void windowClosing (WindowEvent we)
Steps for event handling are:
Implement appropriate interface for the listener so that it will receive the type of the event
desired.
Register the listener as a recipient for the event notifications.
Source may generate several types of events. Each event must be registered separately. Also an
object may register to receive several types of events but it must implement all of the interfaces
that are required.
Handling Mouse Events
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.applet.*;
/*
<applet code = "MEvents" width = 300 height = 100>
</applet>
*/ public class MEvents extends Applet
implements MouseListener, MouseMotionListener
{
String msg = " ";
int x = 0, y = 0;
public void init( )
{
addMouseListener (this);
addMouseMotionListener (this);
}
public void mouseClicked (MouseEvent me)
{
x = 0;
y = 10;
msg = "Mouse Clicked";
repaint( )
}
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
g.drawString (msg, x, y);
}
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public void mouseEntered (MouseEvent me)
{
x = 0; y = 10; msg = "mouse entered";
repaint( );
}
public void mousePressed (MouseEvent me)
{
x = mc.getX( ); y = me.getY( ); msg = "down";
repaint( );
}
public void mouseDragged (MouseEvent me)
{
X = megetX( ); y = me.getY( ); msg = "*";
ShowStatus ("Dragging MouseAt" + x +", " + y);
repaint( );
}
public void mouseMoved (MouseEvent me)
{
showStatus ("Moving mouseAt" + me.getX( ) + me.getY( ));
}
}
NOTE To handle mouse events, you must implement MouseListener and the Mouse Motion
Listener interfaces. All the methods of these two interfaces must be implemented in
your code. In the above example, you need to add remaining methods also.
Handling Keyboard Events
Each time user presses a key, at least two or often three events are generated in sequence.
KeyPressed
KeyReleased
KeyTyped
Example to demonstrate key event handler is given below.
Program must request input focus before it can process keyboard events.Use requestfocus( ).
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event;*;
import java.Applet.*;
<applet code = "KEvents" width = 300 height = 300> </applet>
public class KEvents extends Applet implement KeyListener
{
String msg = " ";
int x = 10; y = 20;
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public void init ( )
{
addkeyListener (this);
requestFocus( );
}
public void KeyPressed (KeyEvent ke)
{
showStatus ("Key Down"); // can also be used to
handle special keys.
}
public void KeyReleased (KeyEvent ke)
{
showStatus ("Key Up");
}
public void keyTyped (KeyEvent Ke)
{
msg = msg + getKeyCode( );
repaint( );
}
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
g.drawString (msg, x, y);
}
}
If you want to handle special keys such as function keys, you need to hande them in KeyPressed( )
method. Some of the function keys can be detected by following constants.
KeyEvent.VK_F1
KeyEvent.VK_PAGE_DOWN
KeyEvent.VK_LEFT
KeyEvent.VK_RIGHT
Partial code to check which function key was pressed.
int key = ke.getKeyCode( );
Switch (key)
{
case KeyEvent.VK_F1 : msg + = "<F1>"; break;
case KeyEvent.VK_PAGE_UP:
msg + = "<PageUP>";
break; }
Adapter Classes
Can simplify the creation of event handlers.
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Provide empty implementation of all methods.
Useful when you want to receive and process only some of the events that are handled by
a particular listener interface.
Example :
Adapter Class Listener Interface
ComponentAdapter ComponentListener
ContainerAdapter ContainerListener
FocusAdapter FocusListener
KeyAdapter KeyListener
MouseAdapter MouseListener
MouseMotionAdapter MouseMotionListener
WindowAdapter WindowListner
Example to demonstrate the use of adapter is given below.
import . . . . . . .
appletCode . . . . . .
public class adapt extends Applet
{
public void init( )
{
addMouseListener (new MymouseAdapter (this));
addMouseMotionListener (new MymousemotionAdapter (this));
}
}
class MymouseAdapter extends MouseAdapter
{
adapt adaptdemo;
public mymouseAdapter (adapt adaptdemo)
{
this.adaptdemo = adaptdemo;
}
public void mouseClicked (MouseEvent me)
{
adapdemo.showStatus ("Mouse Clicked");
}
}
class MymousemotionAdapter extends MouseMotionAdapter
{
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adapt adaptdemo;
public MymouseMotionAdapter (adapt adaptdemo)
{
this.adaptdemo = adaptdemo;
}
public void mouseDragged (MouseEvent me)
{
adapdemo.showstatus ("Mouse Dragged");
}
}
The HTML Applet Tag
<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE> Hello </TITLE> </HEAD>
<BODY>
<Applet Code = "Hello.Class" WIDTH = 300
HEIGHT = 50>
</APPLET> </BODY> </HTML>
To run Applet file in J ava we need to make an html file where the Applet Code tag will specify
which J ava class file has to be displayed. In this case Hello.class is the file. Width and Height
property of applet tag specifies how much area in Internet Explorer window the Applet should
cover.
Parameters to Applets
Applet parameters come in two parts, a user defined name which indicates the parameter, and a
value which determines the value. For each parameter we use the <PARAM>tag which has two
attributes for the name and value, called NAME and VALUE.
<APPLET CODE = "Hello.class" WIDTH = 100 height = 100>
<PARAM NAME = font VALUE = "Times Roman">
<PARAM NAME = SIZE VALUE = "36">
</APPLET>
An example to pass the parameter
import java.awt.*;
import java.applet.Applet;
public class param extends Applet
{
String nam, nam1;
public void init ( )
{
nam = getParameter ("str");
if (nam = = null)
nam = " ";
nam1 = getParameter ("str1");
}
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public void paint (Graphics g)
{
g.drawString ("hello!" + nam, 10, 50);
g.drawString ("Welcome to the world of Java", 10, 58);
g.drawString (nam1, 100, 100);
}
}
To run the above applet, parameters should be passed from the html file. The content of html file
<html>
<Applet code = "param" width = 300 height = 300>
<param name = str value = "UPTEC LTD">
<param name = str1 value = "Kanpur">
</applet>
</html>
Example for Displaying Numeric Values
import java.awt.*;
import java.applet.*;
public class num extends Applet
{
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
int val1 = 10;
int val2 = 20;
int sum = val1 + val2;
String s = "sum:" + String.valueOf (sum);
g.drawString (s, 100, 100);
}
}
Example for Getting input from User:
import java.awt.*;
import java.applet.*;
public class Input extends Applet
{
TextField text1, text2;
public void init( )
{
text1 = new TextField (8);
text2 = new TextField (8);
add (text1);
add (text2);
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text1. setText ("0");
text2. setText ("0");
}
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
int x = 0, y = 0, z = 0;
string s1, s2, s;
g.drawString ("Input number in each box", 10, 50);
try
{
s1 = text1.getText( );
x = Integer.parseInt (s1);
s2 = text2.getText( );
y = Integer.parseInt (32);
}
}
catch (Exception e)
{
z = x+y;
s = String.valueOf (z);
g.drawString (s, 100, 75);
}
public boolean action (Event event, Object ob)
{
repaint( );
return true;
}
}
The HTML APPLET tag
<Applet
[codeBase =codebase URL] : URL directory for class file
code =Classfilename
[ALT =alternatetext] : Used to specify a short text message that should
[WIDTH =pixels] be displayed if browser can not run J ava applet
[HEIGHT =pixels] currently.
[Align =alignment] : Specifies the alignment of the applets, For e.g.
LEFT, RIGHT, TOP, BOTTOM etc.
[VSpace =pixel] : Vspace specifies the space in pixels, above and
[HSpace =pixel] below the applet. HSpace specifies the space in
[<param name =Attrname pixels on each side of the applet.
value =Attrvalue>]
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[HTML text displayed in absence of J ava]
</Applet>
Student Activity 2
1. What is an event ?
2. Define event source.
3. Define event listener.
4. Which methods are included with Event Object ?
5. Define AWT Event.
6. Define Action EventClass.
7. Give the constructor of various event classes.
8. Give the methods of various event classes.
9. What are listeners ? Name some common listner interfaces.
10. Give on example to demonstrate the use of adapter.
20.6 GETDOCUMENTBASE( ), GETCODEBASE( ),
SHOWDOCUMENT( ), APPLETCONTEXT INTERFACE
GETDOCUMENTBASE( )
To load anything into the applet we need to pass the relative path of that. For example, if we
want to load Image then the code given can be
Image img =getImage (getDocumentBase( ), "Images / book.gif")
Here, the base address of the current HTML file is produced by getDocumentBase( )
method.
So, getDocumentBase( ) method returns a URL object that represents the folder containing
the web page presenting the applet.
getCodeBase( )
The getCodeBase( ) method returns a URL object that represents the folder where the
applets main class file is located.
getCodeBase( ) depends on whether your images are stored in subfolders of your J ava
applet or subfolders of the applet's web page.
Syntax : URL url = getCodeBase( ); // main class file
URL url = getDocumentBase( ); // html file or images
Example to display code and document Bases:
import java.awt.*;
import java.applet.*;
import java.net.*;
public class codeBaseApp extends Applet
{
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
String msg;
URL url = getCodeBase( )
msg = "Code Base:" + url.toString( )
g.drawString (msg, 10, 20);
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url = getDocumentBase( );
msg = "Document Base:" + url.toString( );
g.drawString (msg, 10, 40);
}
}
The above example displays the directory name holding the HTML file and full path of the file
holding the object code of .java file.
It is also possible for the applet to display the result of the CGI program as a web page, just
as if it were running in normal HTML mode.
To allow your applet to transfer control to another URL, use the showDocument(u)
method where 'u' in the parameter is the URL or Uniform Resource Locator i.e., the whole
path.
AppletContext is an interface which has details of Applet. It has got some methods which
help in accessing information about an Applet's execution environment.
getAppletContext( ) is one of the methods which is used to get access to the currently
executing applet in the browser. Once you get Applet context you can call ShowDocument( )
to bring another document in view.
Partial code for ShowDocument( ) and getAppletContext( ):
public void start( )
{
AppletContext ac = getAppletContext( );
URL url = getCodeBase( )
try
{
ac.showDocument (new URL (url + "text.html"));
}
catch (MalformedURLException e)
{
ShowStatus ("URL Not FOUND");
}
}
20.7 AUDIOCLIP AND APPLETSTUB INTERFACE
Inside the package java.applet we have the interfaces AppletContext, AppletStub and AudioClip.
AppletStub interface supports communication between an applet and its browser's environment
and is used to develop custom applet viewers. AudioClip interface provides methods that support
the playing of audio clips such as play( ), stop( ), loop( ). After you load audio clips using
getAudioClip( ) you can use these methods to play it.
Student Activity 3
1. Give an example to display code and document bases.
2. Define AppletContext.
3. What is the role of AppletStub Interface ?
4. What is the role of AudioClip Interface ?
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20.8 SUMMARY
Applets are small graphical applications generally accessed from Internet Servers and run
within a web browser or Applet Viewer.
Applets have limited access to local resources, so they can be used without risk of
introducing viruses or violating data security.
Applets must extend the Applet class and override certain methods such as init( ), start( ),
stop( ) destroy( ), paint( ), update( ).
Applets may exist in different states such as New Born state, Running State, Idle state and
Dead state.
Parameters can be passed to applets to make them more flexible.
Applets can show another document from different URL using showDocument( ) method
available in AppletContext interface.
Audio clips and video clips can be played from within an applet.
Applet can respond to events generated by users such as keypress, mouseclicked etc.
20.9 KEYWORDS
Applet : Small graphical applications generally accessed from Internet Servers and run within a
web browser or Applet Viewer.
Event Handling : Involves methods that are called automatically when a user action causes an
event to take place.
Event : An object that describes a state change in a source.
Event Source : An object that generates an event.
Event Listeners : An object that is notified when event occurs.
Action Event : In event generated when button is pressed, list is double clicked or menu item is
selected.
KeyEvent : An event generated when keyboard input occurs.
TextEvent : An event generated by text fields and text areas when characters are entered by user.
AppletStub Interface : An interface that supports communication between an applet and its
browsers environment and is used to develop custom applet viewers.
AudioClip Interface : An interface that provides methods that support the playing of audioclips
such as play( ), stop( ), loop( ).
20.10 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is an applet ?
2. Write the difference between an applet and an application.
3. Discuss the steps involved in running an applet.
4. Why does applet class need to be declared as public ?
5. Discuss different stages in the life cycle of an applet.
6. Distinguish between init( ) and start( ).
7. Frames and applets cannot be used together in the same program. True / False.
8. The CODE value in an <applet>tag must name a class file that is in the same directory as the
calling HTML page. True / False.
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Applet Class 9. If getParameter ( ) returns null, then assigning the return value to a variable of type string
may cause an exception to be thrown. True / False.
10. When we invoke repaint( ) for a component, the AWT invokes which of the following
methods?
a. draw( )
b. show( )
c. update( )
d. paint( )
11. The setBackground( ) method is part of the class
a. Graphics
b. Applet
c. Component
d. Container
e. Object
12. If you want to assign a value to the variable year, then which of the following lines can be
used within an <applet>tag ?
a. number = getParameter (99)
b. <number = 99)
c. <param = radius value = 99>
d. <param name = number value = 99>
e. <param number = 99>
13. Which of the following applet tags is legal to embed an applet class named Test into a web
Page ?
a. <applet class = Text width = 200 height = 100>
b. <applet code = Test.class width = 200 height = 100>
c. <applet code = Text.class width = 200 height = 100 </applet>
d. <applet code = Text.class width = 200 height = 100> </applet>
14. Which of the following HTML code contains an error ?
a. <applet
b. width = 400 height = 200
c. code = Hello.class>
d. <param
e. name = "string" value = "Hello">
f. </applet>
15. Which of the following statements about hierarchy of the class java.awt.Applet is incorrect?
a. An applet is a kind of container
b. An applet is a kind of window
c. An applet is a kind of Component
d. An applet is a kind of panel.
16. When an Applet uses an InputStream created by URL, which network protocol is involved?
a. UDP
b. ISO8859-1
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c. HTTP
d. Multicast
17. Develop an applet that receives three numeric values as input from the user and then
displays the largest of the three on the screen.
18. Develop an applet that will display a filled rectangle changing to a filled ovals, changing to
a filled circle alternatively while moving across the screen.
19. Develop an applet using multithreading to move applet window up and down continuously.
Answers to Review Questions :
10. (c) 11. (c) 12. (d) 13. (b)
14. (c) 15. (b) 16. (a)
20.11 FURTHER READINGS
E. Balaguruswami, Programming with Java, Tata McGraw-Hill.
Davis, Stephen R., Learn Java Now, Microsoft Press.
Naughton, Patrick, The Java Hand Book, OSborne McGraw-Hill.
Sams.net, J ava unleased.
Herbert Schildt, The Complete Reference Java 2, Tata McGraw-Hill.
UNIT
21
AWT : WINDOWS, GRAPHICS AND TEXT
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe various AWT classes
Describe window fundamentals
Work with frame windows
Understand event handling in a frame window
Understand how to display information while working with graphics and color
Work with fonts
Manage text output using fontmetrics
Explore text and graphics
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
21.1 Introduction
21.2 AWT Classes
21.3 Window Fundamentals
21.4 Working With Frame Windows
21.5 Frame Window in an Applet
21.6 Event Handling in a Frame Window
21.7 A Windowed Program
21.8 Displaying Information While Working With Graphics and Color
21.9 Working With Fonts
21.10 Managing Text Output Using Fontmetrics
21.11 Exploring Text and Graphics
21.12 Summary
21.13 Keywords
21.14 Review Questions
21.15 Further Readings
21.1 INTRODUCTION
This unit covers the classes and interfaces of the Abstract Windows Toolkit (AWT). Here you
will learn how the AWT classes and interfaces are used to create the Graphical User Interface
(GUI) of applets and stand alone applications.
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21.2 AWT CLASSES
The classes and interfaces of the Abstract Windows Toolkit (AWT) are used to develop stand
alone applications and to implement the GUI controls used by applets. Some of the important
classes are:
AWTEvent It encapsulates AWT events.
BorderLayout This manager uses five components North, South, East, West
and Center.
Button It creates a push button control.
Canvas A blank semantics free window.
CardLayout It emulates index cards. Only one card is shown on top at a
time.
Checkbox It creates a checkbox control.
CheckboxGroup It creates a group of checkbox control.
CheckboxMenuItems It create an on/off menu item.
Choice It creates a popup list.
Color It manages color in a portable, platform independent fashion.
Component This is an abstract superclass for various AWT components.
Container This is a subclass of component that can hold components.
Dialog It creates a dialog window.
Dimension It specifies the dimensions of an object, the width is stored
in width and the height is stored in height.
Event It encapsulates event.
FileDialog It creates a window from which a file can be selected.
FlowLayout It positions components left to right, top to bottom.
Font It encapsulates a type font.
FontMetrics Encapsulates the information related to fonts.
Frame It creates a standard window that has a title bar, resize corners
and a number.
Graphics Encapsulates the Graphics Context.
GraphicsDevice Such as a screen or printer.
GridbagConstraints Various constraints related to Gridbag layout.
GridbagLayout Layout manager displays components subject to constraints.
GridLayout Two dimensional grid.
Image Encapsulates Image.
Insets Borders of a container.
Label An item used only for display.
List Collection of items.
Menu Creates a pulldown menu.
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Menubar Creates a menubar.
MenuItem Creates a menu item.
Panel Concrete subclass of Container.
Point Cartesian coordinate pair stored in X and Y.
PopupMenu Encapsulates popup menu.
Rectangle Scrollbar An item used in a window to scroll.
ScrollPane Class implements a container with scrollbars so that a large
component can be viewed through a small viewport.
TextArea Class which gives you an area to type the text along with
which you can specify the size by rows and columns.
TextField A class which let you create an area to type the text.
TextComponent Superclass for TextArea and TextField.
ToolKit Window With no frame, no menubar, and no title.
21.3 WINDOW FUNDAMENTALS
The AWT defines windows according to a class hierarchy that adds functionality and specificity
with each level. The two most common windows are those derived from Panel which is used by
applets and those derived from Frame, which creates a standard window.
Component
Container
Window Panel MenuContainer
Interface
Frame
Component
Container
Window Panel MenuContainer
Interface
Frame
Component
Container
Window Panel MenuContainer
Interface
Frame
Figure 21.1
The Window class creates a top level window. A top level window is not contained within any
other object, it sits directly on the desktop. Generally, you won't create window objects directly.
Instead, you will use a subclass of Window called Frame.
Frame
Frame encapsulates what is commonly thought of as a "Window". It is a subclass of window and
has a title bar, menubar, borders and resizing corners. If you create a Frame object from within an
applet, it will contain a warning message, such as "Warning : Applet Window," to the user that an
applet window has been created.
Canvas
Although it is not part of the hierarchy for applet or frame windows, there is one other type of
window that you will find valuable. Canvas encapsulates a blank window upon which you can
draw.
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Panel
The panel class is a concrete subclass of container. It does not add any new methods, it simply
implements container. A panel may be thought of as recursively restable, concrete screen
component.
Student Activity 1
1. What is the role of AWT classes and interfaces ?
2. What is the role of following AWT classes :
(a) AWTEvent (b) Button (c) Choice (d) Component
(e) Event (f) Frame (g) Graphics (h) Image
(i) List (j) Menu (k) Panel (l) Point
3. Give the class hierarch of windows.
4. Define the following :
(a) Frame (b) Canvas (c) Panel
21.4 WORKING WITH FRAME WINDOWS
After the applet, the type of window you will most often create is derived from Frame. You will use
it to create child windows within applets and top level or child windows, for applications.
Frame supports these two constructors:
Frame ( )
Frame (String title)
Setting the Window's Dimensions:
setSize( ) method is used to set the dimensions of the windows. Its signature is:
void setSize (int newwidth, int newheight)
void setSize (Dimension newSize)
Dimension getSize( ) returns the current size of the window contained within the width and height
field of a Dimension object.
Hiding and Showing
After a frame window has been created, it will not be visible until you call setVisible( ).
Void setVisible (boolean visibleFlat)
The component is visible if the argument to this method is true, otherwise it is hidden.
Setting a Windows Title
You can change the title in a frame's window using setTitle( ).
void setTitle (String newTitle)
Here, newTitle is the new file for the window.
Closing the Frame Window
When using frame window, your programs must remove that window from the screen when it is
closed by calling setVisible (False). To intercept a window close event you implement the
windowClosing( ) method of the WindowListener interface. Inside windowClosing( ) you must
remove the window from the screen.
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21.5 FRAME WINDOW IN AN APPLET
While it is possible to simply create a window by creating an instance of Frame, you will seldom
do so because you will not be able to do much with it. For example, you will not be able to receive
or process events that occur within it or easily output information to it. Most of the time you will
create a subclass of Frame.
Program
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.applet.*;
class sampleframe extends Frame
{
sampleframe (string title)
{
super (title);
MyWindowAdapter adapter = new MyWindowAdapter (this);
addWindowListener (adapter);
}
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
g.drawString ("This in frame window", 10, 40);
}
}
class MyWindowAdapter extends WindowAdapter
{
sampleframe sp;
public MyWindowAdapter (sampleframe sp)
{
this.sp = sp;
}
public void windowClosing (WindowEvent we)
{
s.setVisible (False);
}
}
// Create frame window
public class AppletFrame extends Applet
{
Frame f;
public void init( )
{
f = new SampleFrame ("A frame Window");
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f.setSize (250, 250);
f.setVisible (true);
}
public void start( )
{
f.setVisible (true);
}
public void stop( )
}
f.setVisible (false);
{
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
g.drawString (This is an applet window", 10, 20);
}
}
21.6 EVENT HANDLING IN A FRAME WINDOW
Since frame is a subclass of component, it inherits all the capabilities defined by component. This
means that you can use and manage a frame window that you create just like you manage applet's
main window. Whenever an event occurs in a window, the event handlers defined by that window
will be called. Each window handles its own events. The events are:
MouseEntered
MouseDragged
MouseClicked
MousePressed
MouseMoved
21.7 A WINDOWED PROGRAM
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.applet.*;
public class Appwindow extends Frame
{
String keymsg = " ";
String mousemsg = " ";
int mouseX = 30; mouseY = 30;
public appwindow( )
{
addkeyListener (new MyKeyAdapter (this));
addMouseListener (new MyMouseAdapter (this));
addWindowListener (new MyWindowAdapter( );
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}
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
g.drawString (keymsg, 10, 40);
g.drawString (mousemsg, mouseX, mouseY);
}
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
appwindow ap = new appwindow( );
ap.setSize (new Dimension (300, 200));
ap.setTitle ("An awt based application");
ap.setVisible (true);
}
}
class myKeyAdapter extends KeyAdapter
{
appwindow ap;
public MyKeyAdapter (appwindow ap)
{
this.ap = appwindow;
}
public void keyTyped (keyEvent me)
{
ap.keymsg + = ke.getKeyChar( );
ap.repaint( );
}
}
class MyMouseAdapter extends MouseAdapter
{
appwindow app;
public MyMouseAdapter (appwindow ap)
}
{
this.ap = ap;
}
public void mousePressed (MouseEvent me)
{
ap.mouseX = me.getX( );
ap.mouseY = me.getY( );
ap.mousemsg = "Mouse down at" + ap.mouseX + ","+ ap.mouseY;
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ap.repaint( );
}
}
class MyWindowAdapter extends WindowAdapter
{
public void windowClosing (WindowEvent me)
{
System.exit(0);
}
}
21.8 DISPLAYING INFORMATION WHILE WORKING
WITH GRAPHICS AND COLOR
The AWT supports a rich assortment of graphics methods. All graphics are drawn relative to a
window. This can be the main window of an applet, a child window of an applet or a stand alone
application window. The origin of each window is at the top left corner and is 0, 0. Coordinates are
specified in pixels. All output to window takes place through a graphics context. A graphics
context is encapsulated by the Graphics class and is obtained in two ways:
It is passed to an applet when one of its various methods, such as paint( ) or update( ) is
called.
It is returned by the getGraphics( ) method of Component.
Drawing Lines
void drawLine (int startX, int startY, int endX, int endY)
Drawing Rectangles
drawRect (int top, int left, int width, int height)
fillRect (int top, int left, int width, int height)
void drawRoundRect (int top, int left, int width, int height,
int xdrain, int ydrain)
void fillRoundRect (int top, int left, int width, int height,
int xdrain, int ydrain)
void drawOval (int top, int left, int width, int height)
void fillOval (int top, int left, int width, int height)
Drawing Arcs
void drawArc (int top, int left, int width, int
height, int startAngle int sweepAngle)
void fillArc (int top, int left, int width, int height, int
startAngle, int sweepAngle)
Working With Color
Color (int red, int green, int blue)
Color (int rgbValue)
Color (float red, float green, float blue)
The first constructor takes three integers that specifies the color as a mix of red, green and blue.
These values must be between 0 and 255.
new Color (255, 100, 100);
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an int newRed = (0Xff 000000|+ 0XC0<<16) | (0X00<<&);
Color darkRed = new Color (newRed);
You can obtain the red, green and blue components of a color independently.
int getREd( ) int getRed( )
int getBlue( ) int getBlue( )
int getGreen( ) int getGreen( )
int getRGB( ) int getRGB( )
Setting the Current Graphics Color:
void setColor (Color newColor)
Color getColor( )
Setting the Paint Mode
The paint mode determines how objects are drawn in a window. By default, new output to a
window overwrites any preexisting contents. However, it is possible to have new objects XORed
onto the window by using setXORMode( ) as follows:
void setXORMode (Color XorColor)
Here, XorColor specifies the color that will be XORed to the window when an object is drawn. The
advantage of XOR mode is that the new object is always guaranteed to be visible no matter what
color the object is drawn over.
To return to overwrite mode, call setPaintMode( ) void setPaintMode( )
21.9 WORKING WITH FONTS
The AWT supports multiple type fonts. Fonts have emerged from the domain of traditional
typesetting to become an important part of computer generated documents and displays.
Beginning with J ava2, fonts have a family name, a logical font name and a face name. Fonts are
encapsulated by the Font Class.
Methods
String getFamily( ) returns the name of the font family.
static Font getFont(String property)
static String getFontName( ) returns the face name
int getSize( )
int getStyle( )
boolean isBold( )
boolean isItalic( )
boolean isPlain( )
String toString( )
import java.applet.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class showfonts extends Applet
{
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
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String msg = " ";
String FontList [ ];
Graphic Environment.getLocalGraphicsEnvironment( );
FontList = g.getAvailableFontFamilyNames( );
for (int i = 0; i < FontList.length; i++)
msg + = FontList [i] + " ";
g.drawString (msg, 4, 16);
}
}
21.10 MANAGING TEXT OUTPUT USING FONTMETRICS
J ava supports a number of Fonts. For most fonts, characters are not all of the same dimensions
most fonts are proportional. Also the height of each character, the length of descenders, the
amount of space between horizontal lines vary from font to font. The AWT includes FontMetrics
class. which encapsulates complete information about a font.
Height Baseline Ascent
Descent Leading
FontMetrics defines several methods that help you manage text output.
Method
int bytesWidth(byte b[ ], int start, int numBytes)
int charWidth(char ([ ], int start, int numChars)
int getAscent( )
int getDescent( ) Returns the descent of font.
Font getFont( ) Returns the font.
int getHeight( ) Used to output multiple lines of text.
int getLeading( ) Returns the space between lines of text.
int getMaxAdvance( ) Returns the width of the widest
character. -1 is returned if the value
is not available.
String toString( )
Program
import java.applet.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class Multiline extends Appllet
{
int curX = 0, cury = 0;
public void paint (Graphics g)
FontMetrics fm = g.getFontMetrics( );
nextLine ("This is an Line one", g);
sameLine ("This is on line two", g);
sameLine ("This is on same line ", g);
nextLine ("This is on Line three", g);
}
void nextLine (String s, Graphics g()
{
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FontMetrics fm = g.getFontMetrtics( );
cury + = fm.getHeight( ); // advance to the next line
curX = 0;
g.drawString (S, curX, curY);
curX = fm.StringWidth(s);
}
void sameLine (String s, Graphics g)
{
FontMetrics fm = g.getFontMetrics( );
g.drawString (S, curX, curY);
curX + = fm.stringWidth(s);
}
21.11 EXPLORING TEXT AND GRAPHICS
Exploration in text and graphics part is still going, and further refinements and enhancements are
expected. The J ava 2D supports enhanced control over graphics, including such things as
coordinate translations, rotation and scaling.
Student Activity 2
1. Write the constructors supported by frame.
2. Write a method to :
(a) Show a frame window
(b) Set a windows title
(c) Close the frame window
(d) Set the paint mode
3. How can you obtain a graphics context ?
4. What is the role of fontmetrics ? Describe some of its methods.
21.12 SUMMARY
J ava has a complete Application Program Interface (API). The "java.awt" package is an
Abstract Windows Toolkit that can add graphics to applets and applications.
The java.awt package includes classes for font, color and graphics.
The Color class contains methods that control the color settings of User Interface
Components.
The Font class contains fonts including their names, sizes and styles. The graphics class
can be used with the font (and FontMetrics) classes to display text in different font styles,
The Graphics class can be used to draw figures and images using X-Y coordinate system.
21.13 KEYWORDS
Frame : Encapsulates what is commonly thought of as a window. It is a subclass of window
and has a title bar, menubar, borders and resizing corners.
Canvas : Encapsulates a blank window upon which you can draw.
Panel : A concrete subclass of container which recursively restable concrete screen components.
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Answers to Review Questions
1. (a) AWT (b) drawoval( ) (c) drawrect( )
2. (a) True (b) True (c) false (d) true
21.14 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Fill in the Blanks.
a. The _________ package provides graphics capability in J ava.
b. _________ method is used to draw a Circle.
c. Graphics can be drawn in any method of an applet except the __________ method.
d. The default font in J ava is generally _________ .
e. The _________ method can draw a rectangle without round edges.
2. State whether the following are true or false.
a. The setColor( ) method sets the background color of the canvas.
b. The new keyword is used to create a graphics object.
c. Graphics class methods should be used in the init( ) method of an applet.
d. The getFont( ) method returns the current font.
3. Answer the following questions:
a. What is the difference between checkbox and checkbox group classes ?
b. Define canvas, panel, and container. Find out the similarities and dissimilarities, if
any.
4. Write an applet that displays a string in blue against a green background. Then reset the
original background and foreground colors and display the string again. Also determine
the amount of red, green, and blue colors in the foreground color.
5. Determine the font name, size and style of the string and modify font to TimesNewRoman,
28, bold and italicized.
6. Create the following figures
a. A line from (10, 10), to (50, 50)
b. A rectangle of width and height 40 pixels respectively from (10, 10)
21.15 FURTHER READINGS
E. Balaguruswami, Programming with Java, Tata McGraw-Hill.
Davis, Stephen R., Learn Java Now, Microsoft Press.
Naughton, Patrick, The Java Hand Book, OSborne McGraw-Hill.
Sams.net, J ava unleased
Herbert Schildt, The Complete Reference Java 2, Tata McGraw-Hill.
J im Farley ; OReilly, Java Distributed Computing.
Robert W. Bill ; Jython for Java Programmers ; 2001, Sam Publishing.
UNIT
22
AWT : CONTROLS, LAYOUTS AND MENUS
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe various control fundamentals
Describe various layouts
Describe menus
Describe Dialog class
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
22.1 Introduction
22.2 Control Fundamentals
22.3 Layouts
22.4 Menus
22.5 Dialog Class
22.6 Other Controls
22.7 Summary
22.8 Keywords
22.9 Review Questions
22.10 Further Readings
22.1 INTRODUCTION
User Interface (UI) refers to dynamic and interactive communication between a program and its
users. The package "java.awt" (Abstract Windows Toolkit) of J DK gives a portable set of nested
components, starting from the outermost window all the way down to the smallest UI components.
22.2 CONTROL FUNDAMENTALS
The major User Interface elements of AWT that support the development of GUI are:
UI Components These include Labels, Text fields, Menus, Buttons and other typical
elements of UI Interface.
Layout Managers Layout Managers control the appearance of the display i.e., they can
be used to present the components of the container which can be positioned as desired.
Containers Containers are generic AWT components that can contain other components.
including containers e.g. FRAME, DIALOG, MENUBAR.
Events The events system enables responding to the interaction between the components
and the containers for the application.
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The basic UI Components include Label, TextField, TextArea, Button, Checkbox, RadioButton,
Choice, List, Scrollbar, ScrollPane.
Label
Component Classes
The Label Class
Labels are text strings that can be used to label other UI Components.
Constructor Methods
To create labels use one of these constructors
a. Label( ) // creates an empty label.
b. Label(String) // creates a left aligned label with the given text.
c. Label(String, int) // creates a label with the given text and the specified alignment. The
available alignments are stored in the class Label as Label.LEFT, Label.CENTER, Label.RIGHT.
Labels can be created with or without any object of the class.
add (new Label ("Label"));
add (new Label ("label - center aligned", Label.CENTER));
add (new Label ("label - right aligned", Label.RIGHT));
Label lbl = new Label ("Label");
add(lbl);
The TextField Class
A TextField is a subclass of the TextComponent class. It can hold a single row of text and its width
is either set to accommodate a string used in the constructor or set by an int parameter specifying
the number of columns.
Constructor Methods
To create a textfield use any of the following methods:
TextField( ) creates an empty textfield.
TextField(String) creates a textfield initialized with the given string.
TextField(int) : creates a textfield with the given width in characters and initialized with the
given string.
TextField can be created with or without any identifier of the class but since they have events
associated with them, they preferably should be created with an identifier.
TextField tf = new TextField ("First Name", 20);
add (tf);
add (new TextField ("Last name", 20));
Here's a complete program
import java.applet.Applet.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class textandLabel extends Applet
{
public void init( )
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{
add (new Label ("FirstName", Label.CENTER"));
add (new TextField (30));
add (new Label ("LastName", Label.CENTER));
add (new TextField(30));
}
}
Other TextField Methods
getText( ) // returns the text entered.
isEditable( ) // returns true or false based on whether the
field is editable or not.
setEditable( ) // enables you to control whether the contents
of a text field may be modified by the user.
setEchoChar(char) //obscures the characters typed into the field.
Used to create password textfield.
select(int, int) //returns the text between the two int positions.
TextArea Class
TextArea also is a subclass of Text Component class. It is a multiline input area that includes
scrollbars so that large amount of text can be entered and displayed.
Constructor Methods
TextArea (int rows, int cols) creates a textarea of the specified number of rows and columns with
horizontal and vertical scrollbars.
TextArea (Strings, int row, int cols) creates a textarea of the specified number of rows. TextArea
can be created as add (new TextArea ("personal info", 10, 50);
TextArea ta = new TextArea (10, 50);
add (ta);
Other Methods
All these methods can be invoked only by the objects of the class.
append (String S) // appends text to the text area.
insert (String S, int pos) // inserts text at the specified position
within the text area.
Button Class
Buttons are simple UI components that perform actions when they are clicked i.e., they require
instructions to handle user events such as mouse clicks etc.
Constructor Methods
Button (String S) // creates a button with a label.
To create and add a button to the applet. Button btn = new Button ("Click Me");
add (btn);
Checkbox Class
Checkboxes are user interface components that have two states : Checked and Unchecked (true
or false). Checkboxes can be of two types:
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Non Exclusive Checkboxes
These checkboxes enable you to select any number of checkboxes within a given series.
Constructor Methods
Checkbox( ) : Creates an empty and unselected checkbox.
Checkbox(String) : Creates a checkbox with a given string as label.
Checkbox(String, null, boolean) : Creates a checkbox with a given string as Label. Null specifies
the group name, if any (used in case of radio buttons) and
boolean specifies the state of a checkbox that is either selected
or unselected based on whether the boolean argument is true
or false.
To create and add a checkbox:
Checkbox cb = new Checkbox ("BTECH");
add (cb);
Checkbox cbl = new Checkbox ("MCA");
add (cb1);
Checkbox gr = new Checkbox ("Coord", null, true);
Exclusive Checkboxes
Only one checkbox can be selected from within a group. These types of checkboxes are also
known as radio buttons. They have the appearance of checkboxes.
Constructor Methods
To create a series of radio buttons, first create an instance of CheckboxGroup, then create the
button. Each button requires three parameters to be specified label, group name, and whether it
is initially selected (true) or not (false). Finally add the group.
CheckboxGroup cbg = new CheckboxGroup( );
Checkbox cb1 = new Checkbox ("read', cbg, True);
Checkbox cb2 = new Checkbox ("blue", cbg, false);
Checkbox cb3 = new Checkbox ("Green", cbg, false);
Other Methods
getState( ) // to check current state of the checkbox i.e., whether selected or not selected.
setState( ) // to set the state i.e., true or false setState (true);
Choice Pull Down List
A choice list appears like a menu and enables selection of an item from that menu. The advantage
of choice list over radio buttons is, that it occupies less space on the window. To create a choice
list, create an instance of the class Choice.
Choice dessert = new Choice ( );
To add items into the list
dessert.addItem ("Chocolate");
dessert.addItem ("Vanilla");
// to add the choice list to the Panel.
add (dessert);
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Other Methods
getItem(int) : returns the label of the specified item number.
CountItems( ) : returns the count of items in the list.
getSelectedIndex( ) : returns the index position of the item that's selected.
getSelectedItem( ) : returns the selected item as a string.
select (String) : selects the item of the specified string.
ScrollBars
Scrollbars are used to select continuous values between a specified minimum and maximum.
Scrollbar may be oriented horizontally or vertically. Each end has an arrow that you can click to
move the current value of the scroll bar one unit in the direction of the arrow. The constructors are
as follows
Scrollbar (int style)
Scrollbar (int style, int initial, int thumbsize, int min, int max)
Here style specifies orientation of the scrollbar. The number of units represented by the height of
the thumb is passed in thumb size.
int getValue( ) : It returns current value of the scrollbar.
void setValue (int newval) : Sets the new value for the scrollbar and sliderbox will be positioned
to reflect the new value.
int getMinimum( ) : Returns minimum and maximum values.
int getMaximum( )
Student Activity 1
1. Name various user interface components.
2. What is the role of layout manager ?
3. What are containers ?
4. Define events.
5. Define the following :
(a) Labels (b) Texfield (c) Textarea (d) Button
(e) Checkbox (f) Choice list (g) Scrollbars
6. Write the constructors of the above components.
22.3 LAYOUTS
J ava programs are designed for use on multiple platforms. At run time, they need to adapt to the
Operating System as they use the native windows and controls on that system, which is important
for the customer and also for the marketability of the product.
Standard Layout Managers
You must have observed that as the components are added to the panel, they do not come
properly formatted. To format the output and to give it a better look, AWT has provided five
standard layout managers and each of them provides different rules.
1. FlowLayout
2. GridLayout
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3. BorderLayout
4. CardLayout
5. GridbagLayout
To change to any of the layouts use the following methods
setLayout (new layoutmanager( ));
For example,
setLayout (new GridLayout( ));
FlowLayout
The FlowLayout is the default layout for applet and panel. This layout adds objects to a container
in rows, from left to right. When the first row fills the container, the components are wrapped to
the next row automatically. With FlowLayout, only the alignments and the horizontal and vertical
spacing between the components can be changed.
setLayout (new FlowLayout( ));
setLayout (new FlowLayout (FlowLayout.LEFT));
setLayout (new FlowLayout (FlowLayout.LEFT), 10, 15);
This sets the components left aligned with a gap of 10 pixels between components on the same
row and 15 pixels between rows.
Example :
import java.applet.Applet;
import java.awt.*;
public class lays extends Applet
{
public void init( )
{
setLayout (new FlowLayout (FlowLayout.LEFT));
add (new Label ("Branch", Label.CENTER));
add (new Label ("Branch Code", Label.CENTER));
add (new TextField (10));
}
}
GridLayout
The GridLayout class divides the screen into equal sized rows and columns producing a
spreadsheet arrangement. In the constructor function of GridLayout rows, columns and horizontal
and vertical gaps (in pixels) can also be specified, but these are optional. These components are
added cell by cell from left to right, filling the top row and then moving down.
To divide the window in three rows and columns:
setLayout (new GridLayout (3, 3));
To divide the window into 3 equal rows and columns with 10 pixels between columns and 15 pixels
between rows:
setLayout (new GridLayout (3, 3, 10, 15));
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Example :
import java.applet.Applet;
import java.awt.*;
public class lays extends Applet
{
public void init( )
{
setLayout (new GridLayout (3, 12));
add (new Label ("First Name"));
add (new TextField (10));
add (new Label ("Second Name"));
add (new TextField (10));
add (new Label ("password"));
add (new TextField (10));
}
}
BorderLayout
BoderLayout Manager is a simple layout that places control so that they fill their container. Its a
default layout for frame and dialog. When you add a component to the container that has
BorderLayout, you can also specify one of the five constraints in the form of a string, "North",
"East", "South", "West", and "Center". If you do not specify a constraint the default constraint
is "center". A maximum of five components can be displayed in the container. The BorderLayout
manager is the default layout for the Window Class so frames and dialog boxes use the BorderLayout
manager if none is specified.
add (new Button ("West"), "West");
add (new Button ("Center"));
CardLayout
The cardlayout manager is an interesting layout because it does not attempt to resize components
to display them all in the container. Instead it displays one at a time.
An example for this:
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
public class threepagesapplet extends java.applet.Applet implements MouseListener.
TextArea ta;
Button pgstop;
Button pg3bottom;
CardLayout Layout;
public void init( )
{
layout = new CardLayout( );
setLayout (layout);
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add (page1Button = new Button ("Buttonpage"), "page1Button");
page1Button.addMouseListener (this);
add (page2label = new label ("label page"), "page2label");
page2label.addMouseListener (this);
Panel panel = new Panel( );
panel.setLayout (new BorderLayout( ));
panel.add (page3text = new TextArea ("Compositepage"));
page3text.addMouseListener (this);
panel.add (page3buttom = new Button ("Bott button"), "South");
page3bottom.addMouseListener (this);
add (panel, "panel");
}
public void mouse clicked (MouseEvent e)
{
layout.next (this);
}
public void mouseEntered (MouseEvent e) { }
public void mouseExited (MouseEvent e) { }
public void mousePressed (MouseEvent e) { }
public void mouseReleased (MouseEvent e) { }
When the user clicks on any of the components in the applet, the threepagesApplet shows the
next component in its layout. This is done by calling the next( ) method on the Layout.
first (Container)
next (Container)
previous (Container)
last (Container)
layout.show (this, "page2label") : jumps directly to this page.
Student Activity 2
1. List various standard layout managers.
2. Describe flowlayout.
3. Describe gridlayout.
4. Describe borderlayout.
5. Describe cardlayout.
22.4 MENUS
Menus are one of the primary User Interface constructs in almost any windowed application.
Each user created new window can have its own menu bar at the top of the screen. A menu bar can
have number of drop down menus which in turn can have menu items or submenus. The most
basic menu in an application consists of three main elements : menubar, popups and menu items.
J ava also supports some advanced menu features such as separators, disabled menu items,
checked menuitems and submenus.
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Steps to Create a Menu:
1. Create an instance of the MenuBar Class.
Menubar mb = new Menubar ( );
2. Attach it to the Frame using the setMenuBar( ).
frame.setMenuBar (mb);
3. To create a popup create an instance of Menu class.
Menu m = new Menu ("background");
4. Add the pop up to the menu bar using add( ).
mb.add(m);
5. Create and add menu items to the pop up using add( ) and MenuItem( ).
m.add (new MenuItem ("default"));
6. To have separators, use addSeparator( ).
7. To disable or enable any MenuItem use disable( ) or enable( ).
Example :
import java.applet.Applet;
import java.awt.*;
public class lays extends Frame
{
Menubar mb = new MenuBar( );
Menu main = new Menu ("Main");
Menu quit = new Menu ("Quit");
MenuItem thebwitem = new MenuItem ("BW");
MenuItem theColoritem = new MenuItem ("Color");
MenuItem thereditem = new MenuItem ("Red");
MenuItem theblueitem = new MenuItem ("BLUE");
MenuItem theexititem = new MenuItem ("Exit");
public static void main (String args [ ])
{
lays theapp = new lays ( );
}
public lays( )
{
super ("A Menu example");
setMenubar (mb Bar);
mb.add (main);
add (quit);
main.add (thebwitem);
main.add (thecoloritem);
main.addSeparator( );
main.add (thereditem);
main.add (theblueitem);
quit.add (theexititem);
coloritem.setEnabled (false);
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setSize (320, 240);
show( );
}
}
22.5 DIALOG CLASS
Dialogs are separate popup windows that accept input from the user. Unlike frames they have
several restrictions such as,
They cannot have menus or be resized.
They must be opened by a parent window in order to exit.
Since dialogs are designed for user input, they can be designated either as modal or non modal at
creation time. Modal dialogs are to be explicitly closed as they do not allow simultaneous navigation
in two different windows whereas nonmodal dialogs do.
Generic Dialogs
Dialog (Frame, string, boolean);
This creates an initially invisible dialog attached to the current frame which is either modal (true)
or non modal (false).
FileDialog
File Dialog provides a basic file open/save dialog box that enables accessibility to the file system.
The file dialog is system independent but depending on the platform, the standard Open/Save file
dialog is brought up.
Steps to Create FileDialog:
1. To Create a file Dialog use the following constructor:
FileDialog (Frame, String, int);
2. The int argument specifies the mode i.e., either FileDialog.LOAD for file open or
FileDialog. SAVE for file save.
3. Use the show( ) method to display it.
Example :
import java.awt.*;
import java.applet.Applet.*;
public class lays extends Applet
{
public void init( )
{
myframe frame = new myframe ("my first window");
frame.resize (200, 200);
frame.init( );
frame.show( );
}
}
class myframe extends Frame
myframe (String s)
{super (s); }
public void init ( )
{
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Dialog dl = new Dialog (this, "first", true);
dl.setLayout (new FlowLayout (FlowLayout.CENTER));
TextField tf = new TextField (30);
dl.add (tf);
dl.add (new Button ("OK"));
dl.resize (200, 175);
dl.show( );
}
}
22.6 OTHER CONTROLS
ComboBoxit is a pull down list component.
methods >>getSelectedItem( ), getSelectedIndex( ), getSelectedObjects( )
Slider >>Allows GUI users to enter numerical values that can range continuously from a
minimum value to a maximum value. There are two sliders in J ava vertical slider and
horizontal slider.
Student Activity 3
1. What are Menus ?
2. Write a step-wise procedure to create menus.
3. What are dialogs ? How are they different from frames ?
4. What is a filedialog ? How will you create them ?
5. How will you create combobox ?
22.7 SUMMARY
User Interface refers to communication between a program and its users.
The development of a Graphical User Interface is supported by basic UI Components
Layout Manager, containers and events.
The package java.awt provides a set of basic UI components such as Labels, Textfields and
Checkboxes.
Components can be created using their constructor methods and added to the desired
window using the add( ) method.
The layout managers control the placement of components and ensure consistency of the
screen's appearance across different platforms. The default layout is "FlowLayout".
Containers are placeholders for components. They include frames, windows and dialogs.
Unlike frames, dialogs cannot have menus or be resized and they must be opened by a
parent window.
Menus are primary UI construct in any standalone application. They are an instance of the
menu class. They consist of a menubar which can further have a number of drop-down
menus.
22.8 KEYWORDS
Layout Manager : Controls the appearance of the display.
Container : Generic AWT components that can contain other components including containers.
Label : Text string that can be used to label Other User Interface components.
TextField : A subclass of the Text component class which can hold a single row of text.
TextArea : A subclass of the Textcomponent class which is a multiline input area including
scrollbars.
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Scroll Bar : Used to select continuous values between a specified minimum and maximum.
Dialog : Separate popup window that accepts input from the user.
ComboBox : A pull down list component.
22.9 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Fill in the blanks:
a. Labels, TextFields, Menus etc., are examples of ________ components.
b. The default Layout Manager for an applet is __________.
c. ___________ User Interface component can be used to enter multiple lines of text.
d. The __________ class divides the screen into equal sized rows and columns.
e. Exclusive checkboxes are also known as __________ .
2. State whether the following are true or false:
a. The Windows class is an abstract class.
b. User Interface components can be added to the desired window using the add( )
method.
c. Buttons can be labeled using the label component only.
d. Exclusive checkboxes are also known as radio buttons.
3. Write an applet program to generate a form in a new window that accepts the following data
from the user : name, parent's name and address. The user can select his age group from
under-20, between 20 and 50 and above 50 years and select working or non working from a
Checklist. Add buttons to open and close the window.
4. Create an applet containing three buttons red, green and blue. The background color is
initially set to white. Depending on the button pressed, the background color should
change accordingly. If the user presses the button labeled red, the background color
should change to red.
Answers to Review Questions :
1. (a) User Interface (b) Flow Layout (c) TextArea
(d) Grid Layout (e) Radio buttons
2. (a) True (b) True (c) True (d) True
22.10 FURTHER READINGS
Herbert Schildt ; Java: The Complete Reference, J2SE TM ; 2005, Mc Graw-Hill Professional.
J im Farley ; OReilly, Java Distributed Computing.
Robert W. Bill ; Jython for Java Programmers ; 2001, Sam Publishing.
UNIT
23
IMAGES
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe File formats
Describe Image fundamentals
Define Image observer
Describe Media Tracker
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
23.1 Introduction
23.2 File Formats
23.3 Image Fundamentals
23.4 Image Observer
23.5 Mediatracker
23.6 Summary
23.7 Keywords
23.8 Review Questions
23.9 Further Readings
23.1 INTRODUCTION
J ava has extensive image manipulation features. The Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT) provides
support for applets, windows, fonts, graphics, GUI components and imaging system and animation.
In this unit you will examine the AWT's image class and the java.awt.Image package. Together,
they provide support for imaging i.e., processing and manipulation of graphical images. The
essence of all animation is moving pictures, a sequence of still images displayed at a fast
enough rate to give a moving effect. Movies use a frame rate of 24 frames per second. Normal
televisions use 50 Hz frequency. Faster update rates mean less image flickering and consequently
more realistic looking animation.
In this unit you will learn to create Image Object, get the data in the image object and to display
image object on the screen. You will use image observer which can perform actions such as
indicating progress to download. You will also learn a technique to eliminate flickering in the
animation which will lead to exploration of the complex Image AWT subsystem.
23.2 FILE FORMATS
Web browser can display image files in GIF and J PEG. GIF format means Graphics Interchange
Format. Originally, web images could only be in GIF format. Which was created by CompuServe
in 1987. GIF images can have only up to 256 colours each. JPEG format was created by a group of
photographic experts in 1995. It stands for J oint Photographic Expert Group. J PEG stores full
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colour spectrum. JPEG formats are more highly compressed than GIF format. Most Browsers also
support animated and transparent GIF image also known as GIF89a format. The J ava image
classes abstract the differences behind the formats. All of the above formats are supported by
core API. In future, other graphics formats will be supported via Extension APIs.
23.3 IMAGE FUNDAMENTALS
J ava supports an Image class, along with other classes for the purpose of animation and creation
of large sequence of video frames. In J ava, the image class is used to create, load and display
images.
Image class encapsulates a platform independent image structure. This approach shields you
from the profusion of hardware or software dependence. The methods provided by class Image
allow you to query the image dimensions, to know image's properties such as image format,
copyright information and so on. The java.awt.Image class is abstract so you cannot create
Image instances from it. This package is only devoted to image processing. Other classes must
create instances of image for you. Methods that construct and return objects are called factory
methods.
There are three common operations that occur when you work with images : creating an image,
loading an image and displaying an image. In J ava, image class is used to refer to images in
memory and to images that must be loaded from external sources. Thus, J ava provides ways to
create new image object and ways to load one, and also ways to display them.
Creating an Image
The image class does not have enough information about its environment to create proper data
format for the screen. The component class in java.awt is used to create the image. Component
class has a factory method called createImage( ).
Syntax is
Image createImage (int width, int height); Image createImage (ImageProducer imgProd). This
command returns an image produced by imgProd which is an object of a class that implements the
ImageProducer interface.
Canvas c = new Canvas( )
Image test = c.createImage (200, 100)
This creates a blank image of specified size. Later, data can be written on to it.
Loading an Image
The other way to obtain image is to load one. To do this, Use getImage( ) method defined by
Applet class.
Image getImage (URL url, [String imageName])
The above method returns a image object that encapsulates the image found at the location
specified by url and having the name specified by ImageName.
Displaying an Image
Once you have an image object, you can use drawImage( ) method defined by Graphics class to
display it.
boolean drawImage (Image imgobj, int left, int top, ImageObserver imgOb)
This displays the image passed in imgobj with its upper left corner specified by left and top.
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import java.awt.*;
import java.applet.*;
public class SimpleImageLoad extends Applet
{
Image img;
public void init( )
{
img = getImage (getDocumentBase( ), "ABC.GIF");
}
public void point (Graphics g)
{
g.drawImage (img, 0, 0, this);
}
}
The image ABC.GIF will be loaded from a URL that is relative to the result of getDocumentBase( )
which is the URL of the HTML page this applet tag was in Image observer calls the paint( )
method every time more image data arrives.
Student Activity 1
1. Describe various imagefile formats.
2. What is the role of Image class ?
3. How will you create an Image ?
4. How will you load an Image ?
5. How will you display an object ?
23.4 IMAGE OBSERVER
Image observer is an interface used to receive notification as an image is being generated. This
interface provides for notifying a component about changes in image information. This is necessary
because J ava can accomplish image loading as a background process that may not have a
complete image ready when a component is ready to be painted. The method that is required by
this interface is image Update; this method is called by the process loading an image to report
status changes. It defines only one method : imageUpdate( ).
boolean imageUpdate (Image imgObj, int flags, int left, int top, int width,
int height)
Where, imgObj is the image to be loadedflags is an integer which specifies the status of the
update report and remaining four integers, left, top, width, height, represent a rectangle that
contains different values depending on the value passed in flags. imageUpdate( ) method should
return false if it has completed loading and true if there are more images to process.
Different flags:
WIDTH : The width parameter is valid and contains the width of the image.
HEIGHT : The height parameter is valid and contains the height of the image.
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PROPERTIES : Properties associated with image can now be obtained using
imgObj.getProperty( ).
SOMEBITS : More pixels needed to draw the image.
FRAMEBITS : A complete frame that is part of multiframe image.
ALLBITS : The image is now complete.
ERROR : The image is incomplete and cannot be displayed.
ABORT : An image that was being tracked asynchronously was aborted before
it was complete. However, if an error has not occurred, accessing any
part of the image's data will restart the production of the image.
Example of imageUpdate( ):
public boolean imageUpdate (Image img, int flags, int x, int y, int
w, int h)
{
if ((flags & ALLBITS) == 0)
{
System.out.println ("Still processing the image');
return true;
}
else
{
System.out.println ("Done processing the image");
return false;
}
}
Image observer can be used to load an image without flicker. The default implementation of
imageUpdate( ) repaints entire image each time any new data arrives. This causes flashing between
the background colour and image. repaint( ) method causes the system to only repaint the image
every tenth of a second or so. This causes a jerky feel as the image is painting. Default
implementation knows nothing about images that may fail to load properly. To overcome the
above three problems, the following method can be used to load the image without flickering,
without jerk and finally it handles the error caused by the desired file not being found by examining
the flags parameter for ABORT bit.
Example :
import java.awt.*;
import java.applet.*;
public class ImageObserveApp extends Applet
{
Image img;
boolean error = false;
String imgname;
public void init( )
{
SetBackground (color.blue);
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imgname = "UPTECLOGO.jpg";
img = getImage (getDocumentBase( ), imgname);
}
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
if (error)
{
Dimension d = getSize( );
g.SetColor (Color.red);
g.fillRect (0, 0, d.width, d.height);
g.SetColor (Color.black);
g.drawString ("Image not found" + imgname, 10,
100);
}
else
{
g.drawImage (img, 0, 0, this);
}
}
public void update (Graphics g)
{
paint (g);
}
public boolean imageUpdate (Image img, int flags, int x, iny y, inw
w, int h)
{
if (( flags & SOMEBITS) ! = 0) // new partial data
{
repaint (x, y, w, h); // new partial pixels
}
else if ((flags & ABORT) ! = 0)
{
error = true; // file not found
repaint ( );
} // paint whole applet
return (flags & (ALLBITS 1 ABORT)) = = 0;
}
}
Double Buffering
Use of an offscreen image to reduce flickering is called double buffering. This allows you to
render any image, including text and graphics, to an off screen buffer that you can display at a
later time. The advantage is that the image is seen when it is complete. Double buffering is used
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to reduce flickering while drawing a complicated image. It is called double buffering because the
screen is considered a buffer for pixels and the offscreen image is the second buffer, where you
can prepare pixels for display.
Example :
import java.awt.*
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.applet.*;
public class DoubleBuffer extends Applet
{
int gap = 3;
int mx, my;
boolean flicker = true;
Image buffer = null;
int w, h;
public void init( )
{
Dimension d = getSize( );
w = d.width;
h = d.height;
buffer = createImage (w, h);
addMouseMotionListener (new MouseMotionAdapter( )
{
public void mouseDragged (MouseEvent me)
{
mx = me.getX( );
my = me.getY( );
flicker = false;
repaint( );
}
public void mouseMoved (MouseEvent me)
{
mx = me.getX( );
my = me.getY( );
flicker = true;
repaint( );
}
});
}
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
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Graphics screengc = null;
if (!flicker)
{
screeng = g;
g = buffer.getGraphics( );
}
g.setColor (Color.blue);
g.fillRect (0, 0, w, h);
g.setColor (Color.red);
for (int i = 0; i < w; i+ = gap)
g.drawLine (i, 0, w-i, h);
for (int i = 0; i < h; i+ = gap)
g.drawLine (0, i, w, h-i);
g.setColor (Color.black);
g.drawString ("Press mouse button", 10, h/2);
g.fillOval (mx-gap, my-gap, gap *2+1, gap*2+1);
if (!flicker)
{
screengc.drawImage (buffer, 0, 0, null);
}
}
public void update (Graphics g)
{
paint (g);
}
}
The above applet will show different pictures when mouse is moved with/without pressing the
button. When a mouse button is pressed, image is always complete and clean due to double
buffering. The technique can be summarized as follows:
Do all drawing off screen.
Copy the finished product to screen.
Repeat previous steps as quickly as possible.
23.5 MEDIATRACKER
The MediaTracker class keeps track of images loaded from server. To load multiple images
synchronously, and without having to worry about imageUpdate( ), Sun Microsystems added a
class called MediaTracker in java.awt. This is an object that will check the status of an arbitrary
number of images in parallel.
MediaTracker defines addImage( ) method.
void addImage (Image imgObj, int imgID, int width, int height)
imgObj is the image being tracked.
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imgID is identification number.
width, height specify the dimensions of the object when it is displayed.
To check the status of an image, call checkID( ) method.
boolean checkID (int imgID)
The method returns true when all images that have the specified ID have been loaded.
Example :
import java.util.*;
import java.applet.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class TrackedImageApp Extends Applet implements Runnable
{
MediaTracker tracker;
int tracked;
int curing = 0;
Thread t;
static final int max = 10;
Image img[ ] = new Image [max];
String name[ ] = new String [max];
boolean stopflag;
public void init( )
{
tracker = new MediaTracker (this);
StringTokenizer st = new StringTokenizer
("UPTEC+LOGIN+ORACLE+NCSE", "+");
while (st.hasMoreTokens( ) && tracked < = max)
{
name [tracked] = st.nextToken( );
img [tracked] = getImage (getDocumentBase(), name
[tracked]+".jpg");
tracker.addImage (img [tracked], tracked);
tracked++;
}
}
public void paint (Graphics g)
{
int document = 0;
for (int i = 0; i<tracked; i++)
if (tracker.checkID (i, true))
document + +;
}
}
If (document = = tracked)
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{
Image i = img [curimg ++];
g.drawImage (i, 10, 10, null);
}
}
public void start( )
{
motor = new Thread (this);
stopflag = false;
motor.start( );
}
public void stop( )
{
stopflag = true;
}
public void run( )
{
motor.setPriority (Thread.MIN_PRIORITY);
while (true)
{
repaint( );
try
{
Thread.sleep (100);
}
catch (InterruptedException e)
{
};
if (stopflag)
return;
}
}
}
This example creates a new MediaTracker in init( ) method and then adds each of the named
images. In paint( ) method all the images are loaded and displayed.
Student Activity 2
1. Define Image Observer.
2. Describe the method available in Image Observer.
3. What are the features of Image Observer.
4. Define double Suffering.
5. What is media Tracker ? Describe its methods.
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23.6 SUMMARY
The key requirements for any good animation are, absence of flickering and high frame
rates.
Web images can be of GIF and JPEG formats. JPEG images can be of higher fidelity as well
as more highly compressed than, GIF images.
CreateImage( ) method of "Component" class is used to create image object. Use getImage( )
method defined in Applet class to load the image specified by URL. Finally, display it with
drawImage( ) method of Graphics class to display it on the screen.
ImageObserver Interface is useful when loading an image from network to display progress
of downloads.
Double buffering is one of the most basic computer graphics techniques for smooth
animation. The technique can be summarized as follows :
Do all your drawing off-screen.
Copy the finished product to the screen.
Repeat the previous two steps as quickly as possible.
MediaTracker class keeps track of images loaded from server.
23.7 KEYWORDS
Image Class : Encapsulates a platform independent image structure.
Image Observer : An Interface used to receive notification as an image is being generated.
Double Buffering : Use of an off screen image to reduce flickering.
MediaTracker : A class that keeps track of images loaded from server.
23.8 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. How do you display an image in J ava application and in J ava applet ?
2. What is the use of ImageObserver Interface ?
3. What are the advantages of double buffering ?
4. How does MediaTracker work ?
5. What is the significance of flags in imageUpdate( ) method of ImageObserver interface ?
6. Write a program to create an applet which will display Mc Donald's logo on the screen.
7. In the above program, also display the loading status in the status bar using image observer.
8. Fill in the blanks :
a. Web Browser can display image files in ........................... and ........................... formats.
b. ........................... encapsulates a platform independent Image Structure.
c. ........................... can be used to load an image without flicker.
d. ........................... is a buffer for pixels and ........................... is the second buffer.
Answers to Review Questions :
8. (a) CIF, JPEG (b) Image class (c) Image Observer
(d) The Screen, Offscreen Image
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23.9 FURTHER READINGS
E. Balaguruswami, Programming with Java, Tata McGraw-Hill.
Davis, Stephen R., Learn Java Now, Microsoft Press.
Naughton, Patrick, The Java Hand Book, OSborne McGraw-Hill.
Sams.net, J ava unleased
Herbert Schildt, The Complete Reference Java 2, Tata McGraw-Hill.
J im Farley ; OReilly, Java Distributed Computing.
Robert W. Bill ; Jython for Java Programmers ; 2001, Sam Publishing.
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24
JDBC
L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S
After completion of this unit, you should be able to
Describe ODBC as an Industry Standard
Describe J DBC classes and methods
Describe various J DBC components
Describe various J DBC methods
Understand how to establish a session
Understand how to execute a query
Understand how to close the session.
U N I T S T R U C T U R E
24.1 Introduction
24.2 J DBC Introduction of Classes and Methods
24.3 Register Driver
24.4 Establish a Session
24.5 Execute a Query
24.6 ResultSet
24.7 Closing the Session
24.8 Summary
24.9 Keywords
24.10 Review Questions
24.11 Further Readings
24.1 INTRODUCTION
In the current information age, a database is the tool used to collect and manipulate data. The
database forms the foundation of the infrastructure in many companies. While the database
system is well suited to the storage and retrieval of data, people need some sort of visual front
end application to see and use the data stored.
Almost 100 percent of today's enterprise applications use a database. These databases are often
managed by a Relational Database Management System. Whichever database management system
is used, its role in the corporate information system is predomiant.
The J ava Database Connectivity (J DBC) interface allows J ava applets, servlets and applications
to access data in popular database management systems. The standard for accessing data is SQL
which permits maximum interoperability. Of course, SQL is the language used with JDBC. JDBC is
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JDBC a software layer that allows developers to write real client-server projects in J ava. DDBC does not
concern itself with specific DBMS functions.
An Industry Standard : ODBC
ODBC is a microsoft's implementation of a CLI (Call level Interface). It allows the programmer to
develop, compile and deploy an application without targeting a specific DBMS. Modules called
drivers link the application to the database of their choice. For this reason, and because it is
independent of the network layer protocols, ODBC permits maximum interoperability. The DDBC
mechanism is very close to the ODBC, but are adapted for J ava.
APPLICATION
DRIVER MANAGER
DRIVER A DRIVER B DRIVER C
Data Source
A
Data Source
B
Data Source
C
The four ODBC
Components
APPLICATION
DRIVER MANAGER
DRIVER A DRIVER B DRIVER C
Data Source
A
Data Source
B
Data Source
C
The four ODBC
Components
24.2 JDBC INTRODUCTION OF CLASSES AND
METHODS
J DBC is not a derivative of Microsoft's Open Database Connectivety specification (ODBC).
J DBC is written entirely in J ava and ODBC is a C interface. While ODBC is usable by non C
languages like Visual Basic, it has the inherent development risks of C, like memory leaks. However,
both JDBC and ODBC are based on the X/oPen SQL Command Level Interface (CLI). Having the
same conceptual base allowes work on the API to proceed quickly and makes acceptance and
learning of the API easier. Sun provides a jdbc-odbc bridge that translates J DBC - ODBC. This
implementation when done with native methods, is very small and efficient.
JDBC API Components
Application
The user application calls ODBC function to send SQL statements to the database and retrieve
results. It performs the following tasks:
Requests a connection with a data source.
Sends SQL statements to the data source.
Defines storage areas and datatypes of the result sets.
Requests results.
Processes errors.
Controls transactions; requests commit or rollback operations.
Closes the connection.
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Driver Manager
Driver Manager's primary purpose is to load specific drivers on behalf of the user application.
Perform a lookup in an ODBC configuration file or system registry to map the ODBC Data
Source Name (DSN) to a specific DBMS driver.
Process ODBC unitialization calls.
Provide entry points and ODBC functions for each specific driver.
Perform parameter and sequence validation for ODBC calls.
Driver
The Driver processes ODBC function calls, sends SL statements to a specific data source and
returns results back to the application. When necessary, the driver translates and or/optimizes
requests so that the request conforms to the syntax supported by the specific DBMS. The driver:
establishes a connection to a data source.
sends requests to the data source.
performs translations when requested by the user application.
returns results to the user application.
formats errors in standard ODBC error codes.
manipulates cursors if necessary.
initiates transactions, if they are explicitly required.
There are two types of ODBC Drivers:
1. Single tier, which processes ODBC calls and SQL statements.
2. Multiple tier which processes ODBC calls and sends SQL statements to the data source.
Data Source
The data source consists of the data the user application wants to access and its associated
parameters that is the type of operating system. DBMS and Network Layer (if any) are used to
access the DBMS.
JDBC Components
Application
The user application invokes J DBC methods to send SQL statements to the database and retrieve
results. It performs the following tasks
Requests a connection with a data source.
Sends SQL statements to the data source.
Defines storage areas and data types for the result sets.
Requests results.
Processes errors.
Controls transactions : requests commit or rollback segments.
Closes the connection.
Driver Manager
Its primary purpose is to load specific drivers for the user application. It may also perform the
following:
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JDBC Locate a driver for a particular database.
Process JDBC Initialization calls.
Provide entry points to J DBC functions for each specific driver.
Perform parameter and sequence validation for J DBC calls.
Driver
The Driver processes J DBC methods invocations, sends SQL statements to a specific data
source and returns results back to the application. When necessary the driver translates and / or
optimizes requests so that the request conforms to the syntax supported by DBMS. The driver:
establishes a connection to a data source.
sends requests to the data source.
performs translations when requested by the user application.
returns results to the user application.
formats errors in standard J DBC error code.
manipulate cursors if necessary.
initiates transactions if explicitly required.
JDBC Interfaces
java.sql.DriverManager A class that provides methods to load drivers and to support the
creation of database connetions using methods expressed in the java.sql.Driver Interface.
java.sqlConnection Represents a particular connection on which further actions will be allowed.
java.sql.Statement Associated to a connection, it allows SQL statement to be sent to the
database.
java.sql.Collable Statement It has the same role as java.sql.statement but in the context of
database stored procedures.
java.sql.PreparedStatement It also has the same role as java.sql. Statement, but in the context
of precompiled SQL.
java.sql ResultSet Allows access to the rows of a previously executed statement.
java.sql ResultSetMetaData Gives information like type and properties of the columns in a
resultSet.
java.sql.DatabaseMetaData Provides information about the database as a whole.
Driver Manager
Connection Connection Connection
Statement Statement
Result Set
Driver Manager
Connection Connection Connection
Statement Statement
Result Set
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Relationshp between the main J DBC Interfaces
Driver Manager
Driver Driver Layer
Application Layer Connection
Prepared Statement Statement Callable statement
Result Set Result Set Result Set
Driver Manager
Driver Driver Layer
Application Layer Connection
Prepared Statement Statement Callable statement
Result Set Result Set Result Set
The DriverManager Class is really a utility class used to manage JDBC drivers. The class provides
methods to obtain a connection through a driver, register and deregister drivers, setup logging
and set login timeouts for database access.
The DriverLayer. There is a one to one correspondence between the database and the J DBC
Driver. This approach is common in multi-tier designs. The DriverManager class, sits above the
Driver and Application Layers.
The Driver Interface. Every JDBC program must have at least one JDBC driver implementation.
The Driver Interface allows the DriverManager and J DBC Application Layers to exist
independently of the particular database used. A J DBC driver is an implementation of the Driver
Interface Class.
jdbc : (subprotocol>: <subname>
jdbc: Oracle : Products
The four main interfaces that every DriverLayer must implement and one that bridges the
Application and Driver Layers are the Driver, Connection, Statement and ResultSet.
The Application Layer
The Application Layer encompasses three interfaces that are implemented at the Driver Layer but
are used by other application developers. The three main interfaces are Connection, Statement,
and ResultSet.
A connection object is obtained from the driver implementation through the
DriverManager.getConnection( ) method call. Once a connection object is returned, the application
developer may create a Statement object to issue against the database. The result of a statement
is a ResultSet object which contains the result of the particular statement. (if any).
Statement basics is the vehicle for sending SQL queries to the database and retrieving a set of
results. Statements can be SQL updates, inserts, deletes or queries. The statement interface
provides a number methods designed to make the job of writing queries to the database easier.
ResultSet basics interface defines methods for accessing tables of data generated as the result of
executing a statement. ResultSet column values may be accessed in any order, they are indexed
and may be selected by either the name or the number (numbered from 1 to n) of the column.
ResultSet maintains the position of the current row, starting with the first row of data returned.
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Student Activity 1
1. Define ODBC. Name its various components.
2. What is J DBC ?
3. List varous J DBC API Components.
4. What can the following J DBC API Components do :
(a) Application (b) Driver Manager (c) Driver (d) Data Source
5. What can the following J DBC Components do :
(a) Application (b) Driver Manager (c) Driver
6. Describe various J DBC interfaces.
7. Define the Application layer.
Methods
Driver Interface
abstract Connection connect (String url, properties info) throws SQLException.
public abstract boolean acceptsURL (String URL) throws SQLException.
DriverManager class >> Methods
public static synchronized Connection getConnection (String url, Properties info) throws
SQLException.
public static synchronized Connection getConnection (String url) throws SQL Exception.
public static synchronized void registerDriver (java.sql.Driver driver) throws SQLException.
public static synchronized void registerDriver (java.sql.Driver driver) throws SQLException.
Connection Methods
Statement createStatement( ) throws SQLException.
PreparedStatement prepareStatement (String sql).
CallableStatement prepareCall (String SQL) throws SQLException.
Void setAutoCommit (boolean autocommit) throws SQLException.
void commit() throws SQLException.
Statement Basics Methods
ResultSet executeQuery
ResultSet executeQuery (String sql) throws SQLException.
int executeUpdate (String sql) throws SQLException.
boolean executes (String sql) throw SQLException
ResultSet getResultSet( ) throws SQLException
int getUpdateCount( ) throws SQLException
boolean getMoreResults( ) throws SQLException.
ResultSet Basics Methods
boolean next( ) throws SQLException ResultSetMetaData getMetaData( ) throws SQLException.
void Close( ) throws SQLException.
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Interface DriverManager (some examples)
i. jdbc.drivers = imaginary.sql.Driver: oracle.sql.
Driver : webLogic.sql.Driver
class. forName (driver);
DriverManager. registerDriver (this);
Connection con;
Con = DriverManager. getConnection ("jdbc : sybase : // dbserver :
8080 / billing", dbuser, dbpasswd);
where dbuser and dbpasswd is a username and password.
24.3 REGISTER DRIVER
jdbc.drivers = imaginary.sql.Driver:oracle.sql.Driver: webLogic.sql
Driver
Class.forName (Driver);
DriverManager.registerDriver (this);
24.4 ESTABLISH A SESSION
Connection conn;
Driver sybdriver = new SybaseDriver( );
Conn = sybDriver.connect ("jdbc : sybase:// dbserver : 8080/billing",
props);
24.5 EXECUTE A QUERY
int rowcount;
rowcount = stmt. executeUpdate (
"Delete from customer where customer id = 'MCG1023");
24.6 RESULTSET
boolean result = stmt.execute (SQLString);
int count = stmt.getUpdateCount( );
while (result || (count! = -1)) {
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JDBC
if (result)
{
results = stmt.getResultSet( );
}
else if (count! = -1)
{ }
result = stmt.getMoreResults( );
count = stmt.getUpdateCount( );
}
Make a connection
Build SQL Statement
Send SQL Statement
Fetch Row
More rows
Close Result Set
Close SQL Statement
Make a connection
Build SQL Statement
Send SQL Statement
Fetch Row
More rows
Close Result Set
Close SQL Statement
Figure 24.1 Overview of getting the result set
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24.7 CLOSING THE SESSION
void close( ) throws SQLException
Normally a ResultSet is closed when another statement is executed, but it may be desirable to
release the resources earlier.
boolean isClosed( ); // returns true if closed.
void setAutoClose (boolean autoclose);
boolean getAutoClose( );
// closing a connection
import java.sql.*;
class simple
{
public static void main (String s[])
{
try
{
// . . .
String url = "jdbc: odbc: mysource";
Class forName ("Sun.jdbc.odbc.jdbcOdbc Driver");
Connection myconn = DriverManager.
getConnection (url, "javauser", "hotjava");
// . . .
if (! myconn.isClosed( ))
myconn.close( );
// . . .
}
catch (java.lang.Exception ex) { }
}
}
}
Example 1 : How to execute a query
import java.sql.*;
class sempexample
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
String url = "jdbc : odbc: mysource";
try
{
class.forName
("sun.jdbc.odbc.jdbcOedbDriver");
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JDBC
DriverManager.setLogStream java.land.System.out);
Connection myconn = DriverManager.getConnection (url,
"javauser", hotjava");
Statement mystat = myconn.createStatement( );
ResultSet rs = mystat.executeQuery ("select name,
id, salary from employees order by"+"salary desc");
myconn.close( );
}
catch (java.lang.Exception ex)
{
ex.printStackTrace( );
}
}
}
Example 2: How to perform an update
import java.sql.*;
class sumpexample 1
{
public static void main (String args[ ])
{
String lurl = "jdbc: odbc: mysource";
try
{
class.forName
("sun.jdbc.odbc.jdbcOdbcDriver");
DriverManager.setLogStream (java.lang.System.out);
Connection myconn=DriverManager.getConnection(url,
"user", "owd");
Statement mystat = myconn.CreateStatement( );
int res=mystat.executeUpdate("Update"+employees set
Salary = salary * |.| where id = 1");
myconn.close( );
}
catch (java.lang.Exception ex)
{
ex.printStackTrace( );
}
}
}
Student Activity 2
1. Describe the methods of the following :
a. Driver Interface.
b. Driver Manager Class.
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c. Connection Methods.
d. statement Basics Methods.
e. ResultSet Basics Methods.
2. Give an example of Interface DriverManager.
3. How will you register a driver ?
4. How will you establish a session ?
5. How will you execute a query ? Give an example to explain :
6. How will you get the result set ?
7. How will you close the J DBC session ? Give an example to explain it.
24.8 SUMMARY
J DBC is written entirely in J ava and ODBC is a C interface.
Some important classes for JDBC are DriverManager, Driver, PreparedStatement, Statement,
Callable Statement, ResultSet.
DriverManager Class is class to manage J DBC drivers.
Driver Class is an interface implemented by the driver manager class.
Statement class is the class for sending SQL queries to the database and retrieving a set of
results.
ResultSet interface defines methods for accessing tables of data generated as the result of
executing a statement.
Methods of connection, DriverManager class, Driver class statement, ResultSet are used
for further processing.
24.9 KEYWORDS
Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) Interface : Allows Java applets, Servlets and applications to
access data in popular database management systems.
ODBC : A microsofts implementation of Call Level Interface (CLI) which allows the programmer
to develop, compile and deploy an application without targeting a specific DBMS.
24.10 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. State whether the following are true or false :
a. Application layer has DriverManager, Driver Class.
b. Statements are anything related to SQL updates, deletes, queries etc.
c. Establishing a session is done through connection object.
d. ResultSet class is used for storing results.
e. Through J DBC we can cancel different databases.
2. What do you mean by database ? How it is different in client server and single tier ?
3. Describe the terms DataSource, DriverManager, Driver, Application classes in J DBC.
4. What does ODBC stand for ? What is the different between the ODBC and JDBC processing
(if any) ?
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JDBC 5. Create a database with the customer table and item table, then through J DBC create a
program where we are storing the details of customer and trying out SQL manipulations like
inserting, deleting, and simply extracting.
6. Table item in the above part needs to be updated by one more item. Do it through J ava.
Answers to Review Questions :
1. (a) True (b) True (c) True (d) True (e) False
24.11 FURTHER READINGS
J im Farley ; OReilly, Java Distributed Computing.
Robert W. Bill ; Jython for Java Programmers ; 2001, Sam Publishing.