19.1 java.awt.datatransfer.Clipboard (JDK 1.1)

This class represents a clipboard on which data may be transferred using the cut-and-paste metaphor. When data is "cut," it should be encapsulated in a Transferable object and registered with a Clipboard object by calling setContents(). A Clipboard can only hold a single piece of data at a time, so a ClipboardOwner object must be specified when data is placed on the clipboard. This object is notified that it no longer "owns" the clipboard when the data is replaced by other, more recent, data.

When a "paste" is requested by the user, an application requests the data on the Clipboard by calling getContents(), which returns a Transferable object. The methods of this object can be used to negotiate a mutually-compatible data format and to actually transfer the data.

A clipboard name is passed to the Clipboard() constructor, and may be retrieved with getName(). This name is not actually used in Java 1.1, however.

Note that while applications can create their own private Clipboard objects for intra-application cut-and-paste, it is more common for them to use the system clipboard to enable cut-and-paste between applications. You can obtain the system clipboard by calling the getSystemClipboard() method of the current Toolkit object. Untrusted applet code is not allowed to access the system clipboard, so untrusted applets cannot participate in inter-application cut-and-paste.

public class Clipboard extends Object {
    // Public Constructor
            public Clipboard(String name);
    // Protected Instance Variables
            protected Transferable contents;
            protected ClipboardOwner owner;
    // Public Instance Methods
            public synchronized Transferable getContents(Object requestor);
            public String getName();
            public synchronized void setContents(Transferable contents, ClipboardOwner owner);
}

Passed To:

ClipboardOwner.lostOwnership(), StringSelection.lostOwnership()

Returned By:

Toolkit.getSystemClipboard()