com.android.builder.symbols

Class Symbol

java.lang.Object

com.android.builder.symbols.Symbol

public abstract class Symbol
extends java.lang.Object

A symbol is a 4-tuple containing a resource type, a name, a java type and a value. Symbols are used to refer to Android resources.

A resource type identifies the group or resource. Resources in Android can have various types: drawables, strings, etc. The full list of supported resource types can be found in ResourceType.

The name of the symbol has to be a valid java identifier and is usually the file name of the resource (without the extension) or the name of the resource if the resource is part of an XML file. While names of resources declared in XML files can contain dots and colons, these should be replaced by underscores before being passed to the constructor. To sanitize the resource name, call SymbolUtils.canonicalizeValueResourceName(String) before passing the name to the constructor.

For example, the resource drawable/foo.png has name foo. The string bar in file values/strings.xml with name bar has resource name bar.

The java type is the java data type that contains the resource value. This is generally int, but other values (such as int[]) are allowed. Type should not contain any whitespaces, be null or empty.

The value is a java expression that conforms to the resource type and contains the value of the resource. This may be just an integer like 3, if the resource has type int. But may be a more complex expression. For example, if the resource has type int[], the value may be something such as {1, 2, 3}.

In practice, symbols do not exist by themselves. They are usually part of a symbol table, but this class is independent of any use.

Constructor Summary

Constructors

Constructor and Description
Symbol()

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
static Symbol	createSymbol(com.android.resources.ResourceType resourceType, java.lang.String name, SymbolJavaType javaType, java.lang.String value) Creates a new symbol.
abstract SymbolJavaType	getJavaType() Obtains the java type of the symbol.
abstract java.lang.String	getName() Obtains the name of the symbol.
abstract com.android.resources.ResourceType	getResourceType() Obtains the resource type.
abstract java.lang.String	getValue() Obtains the value of the symbol.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

Symbol

public Symbol()

Method Detail

createSymbol

public static Symbol createSymbol(@NonNull
                                  com.android.resources.ResourceType resourceType,
                                  @NonNull
                                  java.lang.String name,
                                  @NonNull
                                  SymbolJavaType javaType,
                                  @NonNull
                                  java.lang.String value)

Creates a new symbol. The name of the symbol needs to be a valid sanitized resource name. See SymbolUtils.canonicalizeValueResourceName(java.lang.String) method and apply it beforehand when necessary.

Parameters:

resourceType - the resource type of the symbol

name - the sanitized name of the symbol

javaType - the java type of the symbol

value - the value of the symbol

getResourceType

@NonNull
public abstract com.android.resources.ResourceType getResourceType()

Obtains the resource type.

getValue

@NonNull
public abstract java.lang.String getValue()

Obtains the value of the symbol.

getName

@NonNull
public abstract java.lang.String getName()

Obtains the name of the symbol.

Returns:

the name

getJavaType

@NonNull
public abstract SymbolJavaType getJavaType()

Obtains the java type of the symbol.

Returns:

the java type