A Field provides information about, and dynamic access to, a single field of a class or an interface. The reflected field may be a class (static) field or an instance field.

A Field permits widening conversions to occur during a get or set access operation, but throws an IllegalArgumentException if a narrowing conversion would occur.

Identifies the set of declared members of a class or interface. Inherited members are not included.
Identifies the set of all public members of a class or interface, including inherited members.
Compares this Field against the specified object. Returns true if the objects are the same. Two Field objects are the same if they were declared by the same class and have the same name and type.
Returns the value of the field represented by this Field, on the specified object. The value is automatically wrapped in an object if it has a primitive type.

The underlying field's value is obtained as follows:

If the underlying field is a static field, the obj argument is ignored; it may be null.

Otherwise, the underlying field is an instance field. If the specified obj argument is null, the method throws a NullPointerException. If the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field, the method throws an IllegalArgumentException.

If this Field object enforces Java language access control, and the underlying field is inaccessible, the method throws an IllegalAccessException. If the underlying field is static, the class that declared the field is initialized if it has not already been initialized.

Otherwise, the value is retrieved from the underlying instance or static field. If the field has a primitive type, the value is wrapped in an object before being returned, otherwise it is returned as is.

If the field is hidden in the type of obj, the field's value is obtained according to the preceding rules.

Parameters
objobject from which the represented field's value is to be extracted
Return
the value of the represented field in object obj; primitive values are wrapped in an appropriate object before being returned
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof).
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
Gets the value of a static or instance boolean field.
Parameters
objthe object to extract the boolean value from
Return
the value of the boolean field
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof), or if the field value cannot be converted to the type boolean by a widening conversion.
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
See Also
Gets the value of a static or instance byte field.
Parameters
objthe object to extract the byte value from
Return
the value of the byte field
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof), or if the field value cannot be converted to the type byte by a widening conversion.
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
See Also
Gets the value of a static or instance field of type char or of another primitive type convertible to type char via a widening conversion.
Parameters
objthe object to extract the char value from
Return
the value of the field converted to type char
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof), or if the field value cannot be converted to the type char by a widening conversion.
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
See Also
Returns the runtime class of an object. That Class object is the object that is locked by static synchronized methods of the represented class.
Return
The java.lang.Class object that represents the runtime class of the object. The result is of type {@code Class} where X is the erasure of the static type of the expression on which getClass is called.
Returns the Class object representing the class or interface that declares the member or constructor represented by this Member.
Return
an object representing the declaring class of the underlying member
Gets the value of a static or instance field of type double or of another primitive type convertible to type double via a widening conversion.
Parameters
objthe object to extract the double value from
Return
the value of the field converted to type double
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof), or if the field value cannot be converted to the type double by a widening conversion.
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
See Also
Gets the value of a static or instance field of type float or of another primitive type convertible to type float via a widening conversion.
Parameters
objthe object to extract the float value from
Return
the value of the field converted to type float
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof), or if the field value cannot be converted to the type float by a widening conversion.
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
See Also
Returns a Type object that represents the declared type for the field represented by this Field object.

If the Type is a parameterized type, the Type object returned must accurately reflect the actual type parameters used in the source code.

If an the type of the underlying field is a type variable or a parameterized type, it is created. Otherwise, it is resolved.

Return
a Type object that represents the declared type for the field represented by this Field object
Throws
GenericSignatureFormatErrorif the generic field signature does not conform to the format specified in the Java Virtual Machine Specification, 3rd edition
TypeNotPresentExceptionif the generic type signature of the underlying field refers to a non-existent type declaration
MalformedParameterizedTypeExceptionif the generic signature of the underlying field refers to a parameterized type that cannot be instantiated for any reason
@since
1.5
Gets the value of a static or instance field of type int or of another primitive type convertible to type int via a widening conversion.
Parameters
objthe object to extract the int value from
Return
the value of the field converted to type int
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof), or if the field value cannot be converted to the type int by a widening conversion.
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
See Also
Gets the value of a static or instance field of type long or of another primitive type convertible to type long via a widening conversion.
Parameters
objthe object to extract the long value from
Return
the value of the field converted to type long
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof), or if the field value cannot be converted to the type long by a widening conversion.
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
See Also
Returns the Java language modifiers for the member or constructor represented by this Member, as an integer. The Modifier class should be used to decode the modifiers in the integer.
Return
the Java language modifiers for the underlying member
See Also
Returns the simple name of the underlying member or constructor represented by this Member.
Return
the simple name of the underlying member
Gets the value of a static or instance field of type short or of another primitive type convertible to type short via a widening conversion.
Parameters
objthe object to extract the short value from
Return
the value of the field converted to type short
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof), or if the field value cannot be converted to the type short by a widening conversion.
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
See Also
Returns a Class object that identifies the declared type for the field represented by this Field object.
Return
a Class object identifying the declared type of the field represented by this object
Returns a hashcode for this Field. This is computed as the exclusive-or of the hashcodes for the underlying field's declaring class name and its name.
Get the value of the accessible flag for this object.
Return
the value of the object's accessible flag
Returns true if this field represents an element of an enumerated type; returns false otherwise.
Return
true if and only if this field represents an element of an enumerated type.
@since
1.5
Returns true if this member was introduced by the compiler; returns false otherwise.
Return
true if and only if this member was introduced by the compiler.
@since
1.5
Wakes up a single thread that is waiting on this object's monitor. If any threads are waiting on this object, one of them is chosen to be awakened. The choice is arbitrary and occurs at the discretion of the implementation. A thread waits on an object's monitor by calling one of the wait methods.

The awakened thread will not be able to proceed until the current thread relinquishes the lock on this object. The awakened thread will compete in the usual manner with any other threads that might be actively competing to synchronize on this object; for example, the awakened thread enjoys no reliable privilege or disadvantage in being the next thread to lock this object.

This method should only be called by a thread that is the owner of this object's monitor. A thread becomes the owner of the object's monitor in one of three ways:

  • By executing a synchronized instance method of that object.
  • By executing the body of a synchronized statement that synchronizes on the object.
  • For objects of type Class, by executing a synchronized static method of that class.

Only one thread at a time can own an object's monitor.

Throws
IllegalMonitorStateExceptionif the current thread is not the owner of this object's monitor.
Wakes up all threads that are waiting on this object's monitor. A thread waits on an object's monitor by calling one of the wait methods.

The awakened threads will not be able to proceed until the current thread relinquishes the lock on this object. The awakened threads will compete in the usual manner with any other threads that might be actively competing to synchronize on this object; for example, the awakened threads enjoy no reliable privilege or disadvantage in being the next thread to lock this object.

This method should only be called by a thread that is the owner of this object's monitor. See the notify method for a description of the ways in which a thread can become the owner of a monitor.

Throws
IllegalMonitorStateExceptionif the current thread is not the owner of this object's monitor.
Sets the field represented by this Field object on the specified object argument to the specified new value. The new value is automatically unwrapped if the underlying field has a primitive type.

The operation proceeds as follows:

If the underlying field is static, the obj argument is ignored; it may be null.

Otherwise the underlying field is an instance field. If the specified object argument is null, the method throws a NullPointerException. If the specified object argument is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field, the method throws an IllegalArgumentException.

If this Field object enforces Java language access control, and the underlying field is inaccessible, the method throws an IllegalAccessException.

If the underlying field is final, the method throws an IllegalAccessException unless setAccessible(true) has succeeded for this field and this field is non-static. Setting a final field in this way is meaningful only during deserialization or reconstruction of instances of classes with blank final fields, before they are made available for access by other parts of a program. Use in any other context may have unpredictable effects, including cases in which other parts of a program continue to use the original value of this field.

If the underlying field is of a primitive type, an unwrapping conversion is attempted to convert the new value to a value of a primitive type. If this attempt fails, the method throws an IllegalArgumentException.

If, after possible unwrapping, the new value cannot be converted to the type of the underlying field by an identity or widening conversion, the method throws an IllegalArgumentException.

If the underlying field is static, the class that declared the field is initialized if it has not already been initialized.

The field is set to the possibly unwrapped and widened new value.

If the field is hidden in the type of obj, the field's value is set according to the preceding rules.

Parameters
objthe object whose field should be modified
valuethe new value for the field of obj being modified
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof), or if an unwrapping conversion fails.
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
Convenience method to set the accessible flag for an array of objects with a single security check (for efficiency).

First, if there is a security manager, its checkPermission method is called with a ReflectPermission("suppressAccessChecks") permission.

A SecurityException is raised if flag is true but accessibility of any of the elements of the input array may not be changed (for example, if the element object is a Constructor object for the class java.lang.Class ). In the event of such a SecurityException, the accessibility of objects is set to flag for array elements upto (and excluding) the element for which the exception occurred; the accessibility of elements beyond (and including) the element for which the exception occurred is unchanged.

Parameters
arraythe array of AccessibleObjects
flagthe new value for the accessible flag in each object
Throws
SecurityExceptionif the request is denied.
Set the accessible flag for this object to the indicated boolean value. A value of true indicates that the reflected object should suppress Java language access checking when it is used. A value of false indicates that the reflected object should enforce Java language access checks.

First, if there is a security manager, its checkPermission method is called with a ReflectPermission("suppressAccessChecks") permission.

A SecurityException is raised if flag is true but accessibility of this object may not be changed (for example, if this element object is a Constructor object for the class java.lang.Class ).

A SecurityException is raised if this object is a java.lang.reflect.Constructor object for the class java.lang.Class, and flag is true.

Parameters
flagthe new value for the accessible flag
Throws
SecurityExceptionif the request is denied.
Sets the value of a field as a boolean on the specified object. This method is equivalent to set(obj, zObj), where zObj is a Boolean object and zObj.booleanValue() == z.
Parameters
objthe object whose field should be modified
zthe new value for the field of obj being modified
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof), or if an unwrapping conversion fails.
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
See Also
Sets the value of a field as a byte on the specified object. This method is equivalent to set(obj, bObj), where bObj is a Byte object and bObj.byteValue() == b.
Parameters
objthe object whose field should be modified
bthe new value for the field of obj being modified
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof), or if an unwrapping conversion fails.
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
See Also
Sets the value of a field as a char on the specified object. This method is equivalent to set(obj, cObj), where cObj is a Character object and cObj.charValue() == c.
Parameters
objthe object whose field should be modified
cthe new value for the field of obj being modified
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof), or if an unwrapping conversion fails.
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
See Also
Sets the value of a field as a double on the specified object. This method is equivalent to set(obj, dObj), where dObj is a Double object and dObj.doubleValue() == d.
Parameters
objthe object whose field should be modified
dthe new value for the field of obj being modified
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof), or if an unwrapping conversion fails.
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
See Also
Sets the value of a field as a float on the specified object. This method is equivalent to set(obj, fObj), where fObj is a Float object and fObj.floatValue() == f.
Parameters
objthe object whose field should be modified
fthe new value for the field of obj being modified
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof), or if an unwrapping conversion fails.
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
See Also
Sets the value of a field as an int on the specified object. This method is equivalent to set(obj, iObj), where iObj is a Integer object and iObj.intValue() == i.
Parameters
objthe object whose field should be modified
ithe new value for the field of obj being modified
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof), or if an unwrapping conversion fails.
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
See Also
Sets the value of a field as a long on the specified object. This method is equivalent to set(obj, lObj), where lObj is a Long object and lObj.longValue() == l.
Parameters
objthe object whose field should be modified
lthe new value for the field of obj being modified
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof), or if an unwrapping conversion fails.
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
See Also
Sets the value of a field as a short on the specified object. This method is equivalent to set(obj, sObj), where sObj is a Short object and sObj.shortValue() == s.
Parameters
objthe object whose field should be modified
sthe new value for the field of obj being modified
Throws
IllegalAccessExceptionif the underlying field is inaccessible.
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the specified object is not an instance of the class or interface declaring the underlying field (or a subclass or implementor thereof), or if an unwrapping conversion fails.
NullPointerExceptionif the specified object is null and the field is an instance field.
ExceptionInInitializerErrorif the initialization provoked by this method fails.
See Also
Returns a string describing this Field, including its generic type. The format is the access modifiers for the field, if any, followed by the generic field type, followed by a space, followed by the fully-qualified name of the class declaring the field, followed by a period, followed by the name of the field.

The modifiers are placed in canonical order as specified by "The Java Language Specification". This is public, protected or private first, and then other modifiers in the following order: static, final, transient, volatile.

Return
a string describing this Field, including its generic type
@since
1.5
Returns a string describing this Field. The format is the access modifiers for the field, if any, followed by the field type, followed by a space, followed by the fully-qualified name of the class declaring the field, followed by a period, followed by the name of the field. For example:
    public static final int java.lang.Thread.MIN_PRIORITY
    private int java.io.FileDescriptor.fd
 

The modifiers are placed in canonical order as specified by "The Java Language Specification". This is public, protected or private first, and then other modifiers in the following order: static, final, transient, volatile.

Causes current thread to wait until another thread invokes the method or the method for this object. In other words, this method behaves exactly as if it simply performs the call wait(0).

The current thread must own this object's monitor. The thread releases ownership of this monitor and waits until another thread notifies threads waiting on this object's monitor to wake up either through a call to the notify method or the notifyAll method. The thread then waits until it can re-obtain ownership of the monitor and resumes execution.

As in the one argument version, interrupts and spurious wakeups are possible, and this method should always be used in a loop:

     synchronized (obj) {
         while (<condition does not hold>)
             obj.wait();
         ... // Perform action appropriate to condition
     }
 
This method should only be called by a thread that is the owner of this object's monitor. See the notify method for a description of the ways in which a thread can become the owner of a monitor.
Throws
IllegalMonitorStateExceptionif the current thread is not the owner of the object's monitor.
InterruptedExceptionif another thread interrupted the current thread before or while the current thread was waiting for a notification. The interrupted status of the current thread is cleared when this exception is thrown.
Causes current thread to wait until either another thread invokes the method or the method for this object, or a specified amount of time has elapsed.

The current thread must own this object's monitor.

This method causes the current thread (call it T) to place itself in the wait set for this object and then to relinquish any and all synchronization claims on this object. Thread T becomes disabled for thread scheduling purposes and lies dormant until one of four things happens:

  • Some other thread invokes the notify method for this object and thread T happens to be arbitrarily chosen as the thread to be awakened.
  • Some other thread invokes the notifyAll method for this object.
  • Some other thread interrupts thread T.
  • The specified amount of real time has elapsed, more or less. If timeout is zero, however, then real time is not taken into consideration and the thread simply waits until notified.
The thread T is then removed from the wait set for this object and re-enabled for thread scheduling. It then competes in the usual manner with other threads for the right to synchronize on the object; once it has gained control of the object, all its synchronization claims on the object are restored to the status quo ante - that is, to the situation as of the time that the wait method was invoked. Thread T then returns from the invocation of the wait method. Thus, on return from the wait method, the synchronization state of the object and of thread T is exactly as it was when the wait method was invoked.

A thread can also wake up without being notified, interrupted, or timing out, a so-called spurious wakeup. While this will rarely occur in practice, applications must guard against it by testing for the condition that should have caused the thread to be awakened, and continuing to wait if the condition is not satisfied. In other words, waits should always occur in loops, like this one:

     synchronized (obj) {
         while (<condition does not hold>)
             obj.wait(timeout);
         ... // Perform action appropriate to condition
     }
 
(For more information on this topic, see Section 3.2.3 in Doug Lea's "Concurrent Programming in Java (Second Edition)" (Addison-Wesley, 2000), or Item 50 in Joshua Bloch's "Effective Java Programming Language Guide" (Addison-Wesley, 2001).

If the current thread is interrupted by another thread while it is waiting, then an InterruptedException is thrown. This exception is not thrown until the lock status of this object has been restored as described above.

Note that the wait method, as it places the current thread into the wait set for this object, unlocks only this object; any other objects on which the current thread may be synchronized remain locked while the thread waits.

This method should only be called by a thread that is the owner of this object's monitor. See the notify method for a description of the ways in which a thread can become the owner of a monitor.

Parameters
timeoutthe maximum time to wait in milliseconds.
Throws
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the value of timeout is negative.
IllegalMonitorStateExceptionif the current thread is not the owner of the object's monitor.
InterruptedExceptionif another thread interrupted the current thread before or while the current thread was waiting for a notification. The interrupted status of the current thread is cleared when this exception is thrown.
Causes current thread to wait until another thread invokes the method or the method for this object, or some other thread interrupts the current thread, or a certain amount of real time has elapsed.

This method is similar to the wait method of one argument, but it allows finer control over the amount of time to wait for a notification before giving up. The amount of real time, measured in nanoseconds, is given by:

 1000000*timeout+nanos

In all other respects, this method does the same thing as the method of one argument. In particular, wait(0, 0) means the same thing as wait(0).

The current thread must own this object's monitor. The thread releases ownership of this monitor and waits until either of the following two conditions has occurred:

  • Another thread notifies threads waiting on this object's monitor to wake up either through a call to the notify method or the notifyAll method.
  • The timeout period, specified by timeout milliseconds plus nanos nanoseconds arguments, has elapsed.

The thread then waits until it can re-obtain ownership of the monitor and resumes execution.

As in the one argument version, interrupts and spurious wakeups are possible, and this method should always be used in a loop:

     synchronized (obj) {
         while (<condition does not hold>)
             obj.wait(timeout, nanos);
         ... // Perform action appropriate to condition
     }
 
This method should only be called by a thread that is the owner of this object's monitor. See the notify method for a description of the ways in which a thread can become the owner of a monitor.
Parameters
timeoutthe maximum time to wait in milliseconds.
nanosadditional time, in nanoseconds range 0-999999.
Throws
IllegalArgumentExceptionif the value of timeout is negative or the value of nanos is not in the range 0-999999.
IllegalMonitorStateExceptionif the current thread is not the owner of this object's monitor.
InterruptedExceptionif another thread interrupted the current thread before or while the current thread was waiting for a notification. The interrupted status of the current thread is cleared when this exception is thrown.