Method Detail

• public Object getAttribute(Object object, String attribute)

  Retrieves an attribute of an instance of the class returned by the getTheClass() method.

  What this means is largely down to the MetaClass implementation, however the default case would result in attempt to read a field of the instance.

  See Also:

  MetaClassImpl

  Parameters:

  object - An instance of the class returned by the getTheClass() method

  attribute - The name of the attribute to retrieve the value for

  Returns:

  The attribute value

• public MetaMethod getMetaMethod(String name, Object[] args)

  Retrieves an instance MetaMethod for the given name and argument values, using the types of the argument values to establish the chosen MetaMethod

  Parameters:

  name - The name of the MetaMethod

  args - Array containing - 1) the argument values (using which their types are then inferred), or 2) the corresponding argument types

  Returns:

  A MetaMethod or null if it doesn't exist

• public MetaProperty getMetaProperty(String name)

  Returns a MetaProperty for the given name or null if it doesn't exist

  Parameters:

  name - The name of the MetaProperty

  Returns:

  A MetaProperty or null

• public List<MetaMethod> getMethods()

  Obtain a list of all the meta methods available on this meta class

  See Also:

  MetaMethod

  Returns:

  A list of MetaMethod instances

• public List<MetaProperty> getProperties()

  Obtain a list of all meta properties available on this meta class

  See Also:

  MetaProperty

  Returns:

  A list of MetaProperty instances

• public Object getProperty(Object object, String property)

  Retrieves a property of an instance of the class returned by the getTheClass() method.

  What this means is largely down to the MetaClass implementation, however the default case would result in an attempt to invoke a JavaBean getter, or if no such getter exists a public field of the instance.

  See Also:

  MetaClassImpl

  Parameters:

  object - An instance of the class returned by the getTheClass() method

  property - The name of the property to retrieve the value for

  Returns:

  The properties value

• public MetaMethod getStaticMetaMethod(String name, Object[] args)

  Retrieves a static MetaMethod for the given name and argument values, using the types of the arguments to establish the chosen MetaMethod

  Parameters:

  name - The name of the MetaMethod

  args - The argument types

  Returns:

  A MetaMethod or null if it doesn't exist

• public Class getTheClass()

  Retrieves that Java Class that the attached Meta behaviours apply to

  Returns:

  The java.lang.Class instance

• public MetaProperty hasProperty(Object obj, String name)

  Returns true of the implementing MetaClass has a property of the given name

  Note that this method will only return true for realised properties and does not take into account implementation of getProperty or propertyMissing

  Parameters:

  obj - The object to inspect

  name - The name of the property

  Returns:

  The MetaProperty or null if it doesn't exist

• public Object invokeConstructor(Object[] arguments)

  Invokes a constructor for the given arguments. The MetaClass will attempt to pick the best argument which matches the types of the objects passed within the arguments array

  Parameters:

  arguments - The arguments to the constructor

  Returns:

  An instance of the java.lang.Class that this MetaObjectProtocol object applies to

• public Object invokeMethod(Object object, String methodName, Object[] arguments)

  Invokes a method on the given Object with the given name and arguments. The MetaClass will attempt to pick the best method for the given name and arguments. If a method cannot be invoked a MissingMethodException will be thrown.

  See Also:

  MissingMethodException

  Parameters:

  object - The instance which the method is invoked on

  methodName - The name of the method

  arguments - The arguments to the method

  Returns:

  The return value of the method which is null if the return type is void

• public Object invokeMethod(Object object, String methodName, Object arguments)

  Invokes a method on the given object, with the given name and single argument.

  See Also:

  invokeMethod(Object, String, Object[])

  Parameters:

  object - The Object to invoke the method on

  methodName - The name of the method

  arguments - The argument to the method

  Returns:

  The return value of the method which is null if the return type is void

• public Object invokeStaticMethod(Object object, String methodName, Object[] arguments)

  Invokes a static method on the given Object with the given name and arguments.

  The Object can either be an instance of the class that this MetaObjectProtocol instance applies to or the java.lang.Class instance itself. If a method cannot be invoked a MissingMethodException is will be thrown

  See Also:

  MissingMethodException

  Parameters:

  object - An instance of the class returned by the getTheClass() method or the class itself

  methodName - The name of the method

  arguments - The arguments to the method

  Returns:

  The return value of the method which is null if the return type is void

• public List<MetaMethod> respondsTo(Object obj, String name, Object[] argTypes)

  Returns an object satisfying Groovy truth if the implementing MetaClass responds to a method with the given name and arguments types.

  Note that this method's return value is based on realised methods and does not take into account objects or classes that implement invokeMethod or methodMissing

  This method is "safe" in that it will always return a value and never throw an exception

  Parameters:

  obj - The object to inspect

  name - The name of the method of interest

  argTypes - The argument types to match against

  Returns:

  A List of MetaMethods matching the argument types which will be empty if no matching methods exist

• public List<MetaMethod> respondsTo(Object obj, String name)

  Returns an object satisfying Groovy truth if the implementing MetaClass responds to a method with the given name regardless of arguments. In other words this method will return for foo() and foo(String).

  Note that this method's return value is based on realised methods and does not take into account objects or classes that implement invokeMethod or methodMissing

  This method is "safe" in that it will always return a value and never throw an exception

  Parameters:

  obj - The object to inspect

  name - The name of the method of interest

  Returns:

  A List of MetaMethods which will be empty if no methods with the given name exist

• public void setAttribute(Object object, String attribute, Object newValue)

  Sets an attribute of an instance of the class returned by the getTheClass() method.

  What this means is largely down to the MetaClass implementation, however the default case would result in an attempt to set a field of the instance.

  See Also:

  MetaClassImpl

  Parameters:

  object - An instance of the class returned by the getTheClass() method

  attribute - The name of the attribute to set

  newValue - The new value of the attribute

• public void setProperty(Object object, String property, Object newValue)

  Sets a property of an instance of the class returned by the getTheClass() method.

  What this means is largely down to the MetaClass implementation, however the default case would result in an attempt to invoke a JavaBean setter, or if no such setter exists to set a public field of the instance.

  See Also:

  MetaClassImpl

  Parameters:

  object - An instance of the class returned by the getTheClass() method

  property - The name of the property to set

  newValue - The new value of the property