29.5 java.text.CollationKey (JDK 1.1)

CollationKey objects are used to compare strings more quickly than is possible with Collation.compare(). Objects of this class are returned by Collation.getCollationKey(). To compare two CollationKey objects, invoke the compareTo() method of key A, passing the key B as an argument (both CollationKey objects must be created through the same Collation object). The return value of this method is less than zero if the key A is collated before the key B. It is equal to zero if they are equivalent for the purposes of collation, and it is greater than zero if the key A is collated after the key B.

Use getSourceString() to obtain the string represented by a CollationKey.

public final class CollationKey extends Object {
    // No Constructor
    // Public Instance Methods
            public int compareTo(CollationKey target);
            public boolean equals(Object target);  // Overrides Object
            public String getSourceString();
            public int hashCode();  // Overrides Object
            public byte[] toByteArray();
}

Passed To:

CollationKey.compareTo()

Returned By:

Collator.getCollationKey(), RuleBasedCollator.getCollationKey()