public interface

Bag

implements Collection<E>
org.apache.commons.collections.Bag
Known Indirect Subclasses

Class Overview

Defines a collection that counts the number of times an object appears in the collection.

Suppose you have a Bag that contains {a, a, b, c}. Calling getCount(Object) on a would return 2, while calling uniqueSet() would return {a, b, c}.

NOTE: This interface violates the Collection contract. The behavior specified in many of these methods is not the same as the behavior specified by Collection. The noncompliant methods are clearly marked with "(Violation)". Exercise caution when using a bag as a Collection.

This violation resulted from the original specification of this interface. In an ideal world, the interface would be changed to fix the problems, however it has been decided to maintain backwards compatibility instead.

Summary

Public Methods
abstract boolean add(Object object, int nCopies)
Adds nCopies copies of the specified object to the Bag.
abstract boolean add(Object object)
(Violation) Adds one copy the specified object to the Bag.
abstract boolean containsAll(Collection coll)
(Violation) Returns true if the bag contains all elements in the given collection, respecting cardinality.
abstract int getCount(Object object)
Returns the number of occurrences (cardinality) of the given object currently in the bag.
abstract Iterator iterator()
Returns an Iterator over the entire set of members, including copies due to cardinality.
abstract boolean remove(Object object)
(Violation) Removes all occurrences of the given object from the bag.
abstract boolean remove(Object object, int nCopies)
Removes nCopies copies of the specified object from the Bag.
abstract boolean removeAll(Collection coll)
(Violation) Remove all elements represented in the given collection, respecting cardinality.
abstract boolean retainAll(Collection coll)
(Violation) Remove any members of the bag that are not in the given collection, respecting cardinality.
abstract int size()
Returns the total number of items in the bag across all types.
abstract Set uniqueSet()
Returns a Set of unique elements in the Bag.
[Expand]
Inherited Methods
From interface java.lang.Iterable
From interface java.util.Collection

Public Methods

public abstract boolean add (Object object, int nCopies)

Adds nCopies copies of the specified object to the Bag.

If the object is already in the uniqueSet() then increment its count as reported by getCount(Object). Otherwise add it to the uniqueSet() and report its count as nCopies.

Parameters
object the object to add
nCopies the number of copies to add
Returns
  • true if the object was not already in the uniqueSet

public abstract boolean add (Object object)

(Violation) Adds one copy the specified object to the Bag.

If the object is already in the uniqueSet() then increment its count as reported by getCount(Object). Otherwise add it to the uniqueSet() and report its count as 1.

Since this method always increases the size of the bag, according to the add(Object) contract, it should always return true. Since it sometimes returns false, this method violates the contract.

Parameters
object the object to add
Returns
  • true if the object was not already in the uniqueSet

public abstract boolean containsAll (Collection coll)

(Violation) Returns true if the bag contains all elements in the given collection, respecting cardinality. That is, if the given collection coll contains n copies of a given object, calling getCount(Object) on that object must be >= n for all n in coll.

The containsAll(Collection) method specifies that cardinality should not be respected; this method should return true if the bag contains at least one of every object contained in the given collection.

Parameters
coll the collection to check against
Returns
  • true if the Bag contains all the collection

public abstract int getCount (Object object)

Returns the number of occurrences (cardinality) of the given object currently in the bag. If the object does not exist in the bag, return 0.

Parameters
object the object to search for
Returns
  • the number of occurrences of the object, zero if not found

public abstract Iterator iterator ()

Returns an Iterator over the entire set of members, including copies due to cardinality. This iterator is fail-fast and will not tolerate concurrent modifications.

Returns
  • iterator over all elements in the Bag

public abstract boolean remove (Object object)

(Violation) Removes all occurrences of the given object from the bag.

This will also remove the object from the uniqueSet().

According to the remove(Object) method, this method should only remove the first occurrence of the given object, not all occurrences.

Returns
  • true if this call changed the collection

public abstract boolean remove (Object object, int nCopies)

Removes nCopies copies of the specified object from the Bag.

If the number of copies to remove is greater than the actual number of copies in the Bag, no error is thrown.

Parameters
object the object to remove
nCopies the number of copies to remove
Returns
  • true if this call changed the collection

public abstract boolean removeAll (Collection coll)

(Violation) Remove all elements represented in the given collection, respecting cardinality. That is, if the given collection coll contains n copies of a given object, the bag will have n fewer copies, assuming the bag had at least n copies to begin with.

The removeAll(Collection) method specifies that cardinality should not be respected; this method should remove all occurrences of every object contained in the given collection.

Parameters
coll the collection to remove
Returns
  • true if this call changed the collection

public abstract boolean retainAll (Collection coll)

(Violation) Remove any members of the bag that are not in the given collection, respecting cardinality. That is, if the given collection coll contains n copies of a given object and the bag has m > n copies, then delete m - n copies from the bag. In addition, if e is an object in the bag but !coll.contains(e), then remove e and any of its copies.

The retainAll(Collection) method specifies that cardinality should not be respected; this method should keep all occurrences of every object contained in the given collection.

Parameters
coll the collection to retain
Returns
  • true if this call changed the collection

public abstract int size ()

Returns the total number of items in the bag across all types.

Returns
  • the total size of the Bag

public abstract Set uniqueSet ()

Returns a Set of unique elements in the Bag.

Uniqueness constraints are the same as those in Set.

Returns
  • the Set of unique Bag elements