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Class java.util.Hashtable

java.lang.Object
   |
   +----java.util.Dictionary
           |
           +----java.util.Hashtable

public class Hashtable

extends Dictionary

implements Cloneable, Serializable

To successfully store and retrieve objects from a hashtable, the objects used as keys must implement the hashCode method and the equals method.

An instance of Hashtable has two parameters that affect its efficiency: its capacity and its load factor. The load factor should be between 0.0 and 1.0. When the number of entries in the hashtable exceeds the product of the load factor and the current capacity, the capacity is increased by calling the rehash method. Larger load factors use memory more efficiently, at the expense of larger expected time per lookup.

If many entries are to be made into a Hashtable, creating it with a sufficiently large capacity may allow the entries to be inserted more efficiently than letting it perform automatic rehashing as needed to grow the table.

This example creates a hashtable of numbers. It uses the names of the numbers as keys:

     Hashtable numbers = new Hashtable();
     numbers.put("one", new Integer(1));
     numbers.put("two", new Integer(2));
     numbers.put("three", new Integer(3));
 

To retrieve a number, use the following code:

     Integer n = (Integer)numbers.get("two");
     if (n != null) {
         System.out.println("two = " + n);
     }
 

See Also:

equals, hashCode, rehash

Hashtable()

Constructs a new, empty hashtable with a default capacity and load factor.

Hashtable(int)

Constructs a new, empty hashtable with the specified initial capacity and default load factor.

Hashtable(int, float)

Constructs a new, empty hashtable with the specified initial capacity and the specified load factor.

clear()

Clears this hashtable so that it contains no keys.

clone()

Creates a shallow copy of this hashtable.

contains(Object)

Tests if some key maps into the specified value in this hashtable.

containsKey(Object)

Tests if the specified object is a key in this hashtable.

elements()

Returns an enumeration of the values in this hashtable.

get(Object)

Returns the value to which the specified key is mapped in this hashtable.

isEmpty()

Tests if this hashtable maps no keys to values.

keys()

Returns an enumeration of the keys in this hashtable.

put(Object, Object)

Maps the specified key to the specified value in this hashtable.

rehash()

Rehashes the contents of the hashtable into a hashtable with a larger capacity.

remove(Object)

Removes the key (and its corresponding value) from this hashtable.

size()

Returns the number of keys in this hashtable.

toString()

Returns a rather long string representation of this hashtable.

 public Hashtable(int initialCapacity,
                  float loadFactor)

Constructs a new, empty hashtable with the specified initial capacity and the specified load factor.

Parameters:

initialCapacity - the initial capacity of the hashtable.

loadFactor - a number between 0.0 and 1.0.

Throws: IllegalArgumentException

if the initial capacity is less than or equal to zero, or if the load factor is less than or equal to zero.

 public Hashtable(int initialCapacity)

Constructs a new, empty hashtable with the specified initial capacity and default load factor.

Parameters:

initialCapacity - the initial capacity of the hashtable.

 public Hashtable()

Constructs a new, empty hashtable with a default capacity and load factor.

 public int size()

Returns the number of keys in this hashtable.

Returns:

the number of keys in this hashtable.

Overrides:

size in class Dictionary

 public boolean isEmpty()

Tests if this hashtable maps no keys to values.

Returns:

true if this hashtable maps no keys to values; false otherwise.

Overrides:

isEmpty in class Dictionary

 public synchronized Enumeration keys()

Returns an enumeration of the keys in this hashtable.

Returns:

an enumeration of the keys in this hashtable.

Overrides:

keys in class Dictionary

See Also:

Enumeration, elements

 public synchronized Enumeration elements()

Returns an enumeration of the values in this hashtable. Use the Enumeration methods on the returned object to fetch the elements sequentially.

Returns:

an enumeration of the values in this hashtable.

Overrides:

elements in class Dictionary

See Also:

Enumeration, keys

 public synchronized boolean contains(Object value)

Tests if some key maps into the specified value in this hashtable. This operation is more expensive than the containsKey method.

Parameters:

value - a value to search for.

Returns:

true if some key maps to the value argument in this hashtable; false otherwise.

Throws: NullPointerException

if the value is null.

See Also:

containsKey

 public synchronized boolean containsKey(Object key)

Tests if the specified object is a key in this hashtable.

Parameters:

key - possible key.

Returns:

true if the specified object is a key in this hashtable; false otherwise.

See Also:

contains

 public synchronized Object get(Object key)

Returns the value to which the specified key is mapped in this hashtable.

Parameters:

key - a key in the hashtable.

Returns:

the value to which the key is mapped in this hashtable; null if the key is not mapped to any value in this hashtable.

Overrides:

get in class Dictionary

See Also:

put

 protected void rehash()

Rehashes the contents of the hashtable into a hashtable with a larger capacity. This method is called automatically when the number of keys in the hashtable exceeds this hashtable's capacity and load factor.

 public synchronized Object put(Object key,
                                Object value)

Maps the specified key to the specified value in this hashtable. Neither the key nor the value can be null.

The value can be retrieved by calling the get method with a key that is equal to the original key.

Parameters:

key - the hashtable key.

value - the value.

Returns:

the previous value of the specified key in this hashtable, or null if it did not have one.

Throws: NullPointerException

if the key or value is null.

Overrides:

put in class Dictionary

See Also:

equals, get

 public synchronized Object remove(Object key)

Removes the key (and its corresponding value) from this hashtable. This method does nothing if the key is not in the hashtable.

Parameters:

key - the key that needs to be removed.

Returns:

the value to which the key had been mapped in this hashtable, or null if the key did not have a mapping.

Overrides:

remove in class Dictionary

 public synchronized void clear()

Clears this hashtable so that it contains no keys.

 public synchronized Object clone()

Creates a shallow copy of this hashtable. The keys and values themselves are not cloned. This is a relatively expensive operation.

Returns:

a clone of the hashtable.

Overrides:

clone in class Object

 public synchronized String toString()

Returns a rather long string representation of this hashtable.

Returns:

a string representation of this hashtable.

Overrides:

toString in class Object

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