Packageorg.as3collections
Interfacepublic interface ICollection extends IIterable, org.as3coreaddendum.system.ICloneable, org.as3coreaddendum.system.IEquatable
Implementors AbstractArrayCollection, TypedCollection, UniqueCollection

The root interface in the collection hierarchy. A collection represents a group of objects, known as its elements.

Some collections allow duplicate elements and others do not. Some are ordered and others unordered.

This interface is typically used to pass collections around and manipulate them where maximum generality is desired.

The methods that modify the collection are specified to throw org.as3coreaddendum.errors.UnsupportedOperationError if the collection does not support the operation. These methods are documented as "optional operation".

This documentation is partially based in the Java Collections Framework JavaDoc documentation. For further information see Java Collections Framework

See also

AbstractArrayCollection
IIterable
IList
org.as3coreaddendum.system.IEquatable
org.as3coreaddendum.system.ICloneable


Public Properties
 PropertyDefined By
  allEquatable : Boolean
[read-only] Indicates whether all elements in this collection implement the interface org.as3coreaddendum.system.IEquatable.
ICollection
Public Methods
 MethodDefined By
  
add(element:*):Boolean
Ensures that this collection contains the specified element (optional operation).
ICollection
  
addAll(collection:ICollection):Boolean
Adds all of the elements in the specified collection to this collection (optional operation).
ICollection
  
clear():void
Removes all of the elements from this collection (optional operation).
ICollection
  
contains(o:*):Boolean
Returns true if this collection contains the specified object.
ICollection
  
containsAll(collection:ICollection):Boolean
Returns true if this collection contains all of the elements in the specified collection.
ICollection
  
isEmpty():Boolean
Returns true if this collection contains no elements.
ICollection
 Inherited
Returns an iterator over a set of elements.
IIterable
  
remove(o:*):Boolean
Removes a single instance (only one occurrence) of the specified object from this collection, if it is present (optional operation).
ICollection
  
removeAll(collection:ICollection):Boolean
Removes all elements of this collection that are also contained in the specified collection (optional operation).
ICollection
  
retainAll(collection:ICollection):Boolean
Retains only the elements in this collection that are contained in the specified collection (optional operation).
ICollection
  
size():int
Returns the number of elements in this collection.
ICollection
  
toArray():Array
Returns an array containing all of the elements in this collection.
ICollection
Property Detail
allEquatableproperty
allEquatable:Boolean  [read-only]

Indicates whether all elements in this collection implement the interface org.as3coreaddendum.system.IEquatable.


Implementation
    public function get allEquatable():Boolean
Method Detail
add()method
public function add(element:*):Boolean

Ensures that this collection contains the specified element (optional operation).

Collections that support this operation may place limitations on what elements may be added to this collection. In particular, some collections will refuse to add null elements, and others will impose restrictions on the type of elements that may be added. Collection classes should clearly specify in their documentation any restrictions on what elements may be added.

If a collection refuses to add a particular element for any reason other than that it already contains the element, it must throw an error (rather than returning false). This preserves the invariant that a collection always contains the specified element after this call returns.

Parameters

element:* — the element to be added.

Returns
Booleantrue if this collection changed as a result of the call. Returns false if this collection does not permit duplicates and already contains the specified element.

Throws
org.as3coreaddendum.errors:UnsupportedOperationError — if the add operation is not supported by this collection.
 
org.as3coreaddendum.errors:ClassCastError — if the class of the specified element prevents it from being added to this collection.
 
ArgumentError — if the specified element is null and this collection does not permit null elements.
addAll()method 
public function addAll(collection:ICollection):Boolean

Adds all of the elements in the specified collection to this collection (optional operation).

Parameters

collection:ICollection — collection containing elements to be added to this collection.

Returns
Booleantrue if this collection changed as a result of the call.

Throws
org.as3coreaddendum.errors:UnsupportedOperationError — if the addAll operation is not supported by this collection.
 
org.as3coreaddendum.errors:ClassCastError — if the class of an element of the specified collection prevents it from being added to this collection.
 
ArgumentError — if the specified collection contains a null element and this collection does not permit null elements, or if the specified collection is null.
clear()method 
public function clear():void

Removes all of the elements from this collection (optional operation). The collection will be empty after this method returns.


Throws
org.as3coreaddendum.errors:UnsupportedOperationError — if the clear operation is not supported by this collection.
contains()method 
public function contains(o:*):Boolean

Returns true if this collection contains the specified object.

Parameters

o:* — object whose presence in this collection is to be tested.

Returns
Booleantrue if this collection contains the specified object.

Throws
org.as3coreaddendum.errors:ClassCastError — if the type of the specified object is incompatible with this collection (optional).
 
ArgumentError — if the specified object is null and this collection does not permit null elements (optional).
containsAll()method 
public function containsAll(collection:ICollection):Boolean

Returns true if this collection contains all of the elements in the specified collection.

Parameters

collection:ICollection — the collection to be checked for containment in this collection.

Returns
Booleantrue if this collection contains all of the elements in the specified collection.

Throws
org.as3coreaddendum.errors:ClassCastError — if the types of one or more elements in the specified collection are incompatible with this collection (optional).
 
ArgumentError — if the specified collection contains one or more null elements and this collection does not permit null elements (optional), or if the specified collection is null.
isEmpty()method 
public function isEmpty():Boolean

Returns true if this collection contains no elements.

Returns
Booleantrue if this collection contains no elements.
remove()method 
public function remove(o:*):Boolean

Removes a single instance (only one occurrence) of the specified object from this collection, if it is present (optional operation).

Parameters

o:* — the object to be removed from this collection, if present.

Returns
Booleantrue if an object was removed as a result of this call.

Throws
org.as3coreaddendum.errors:UnsupportedOperationError — if the remove operation is not supported by this collection.
 
org.as3coreaddendum.errors:ClassCastError — if the type of the specified object is incompatible with this collection (optional).
 
ArgumentError — if the specified object is null and this collection does not permit null elements (optional).

See also

removeAll()method 
public function removeAll(collection:ICollection):Boolean

Removes all elements of this collection that are also contained in the specified collection (optional operation). After this call returns, this collection will contain no elements in common with the specified collection.

Parameters

collection:ICollection — the collection containing elements to be removed from this collection.

Returns
Booleantrue if this collection has changed as a result of the call.

Throws
org.as3coreaddendum.errors:UnsupportedOperationError — if the removeAll operation is not supported by this collection.
 
org.as3coreaddendum.errors:ClassCastError — if the types of one or more elements in this collection are incompatible with the specified collection (optional).
 
ArgumentError — if the specified collection contains a null element and this collection does not permit null elements (optional), or if the specified collection is null.
retainAll()method 
public function retainAll(collection:ICollection):Boolean

Retains only the elements in this collection that are contained in the specified collection (optional operation). In other words, removes from this collection all of its elements that are not contained in the specified collection.

Parameters

collection:ICollection — the collection containing elements to be retained in this collection.

Returns
Booleantrue if this collection changed as a result of the call.

Throws
org.as3coreaddendum.errors:UnsupportedOperationError — if the retainAll operation is not supported by this collection.
 
org.as3coreaddendum.errors:ClassCastError — if the types of one or more elements in this collection are incompatible with the specified collection (optional).
 
ArgumentError — if the specified collection contains a null element and this collection does not permit null elements (optional), or if the specified collection is null.
size()method 
public function size():int

Returns the number of elements in this collection.

Returns
int — the number of elements in this collection.
toArray()method 
public function toArray():Array

Returns an array containing all of the elements in this collection.

If this collection makes any guarantees as to what order its elements are returned by its iterator, this method must return the elements in the same order.

The returned array will be "safe" in that no references to it are maintained by this collection. (In other words, this method must allocate a new array even if this collection is backed by an array). The caller is thus free to modify the returned array.

Returns
Array — a new array object containing all of the elements in this collection.