javax.activation
Interface DataSource

All Known Subinterfaces:

MultipartDataSource

All Known Implementing Classes:

FileDataSource, MimePartDataSource, URLDataSource

public interface DataSource

The DataSource interface provides the JavaBeans Activation Framework with an abstraction of some arbitrary collection of data. It provides a type for that data as well as access to it in the form of InputStreams and OutputStreams where appropriate.

getInputStream

public java.io.InputStream getInputStream()
 throws java.io.IOException

This method returns an InputStream representing the the data and throws the appropriate exception if it can not do so. Note that a new InputStream object must be returned each time this method is called, and the stream must be positioned at the beginning of the data.

Returns:

an InputStream

getOutputStream

public java.io.OutputStream getOutputStream()
 throws java.io.IOException

This method returns an OutputStream where the data can be written and throws the appropriate exception if it can not do so. Note that a new OutputStream object must be returned each time this method is called, and the stream must be positioned at the location the data is to be written.

Returns:

an OutputStream

getContentType

public java.lang.String getContentType()

This method returns the MIME type of the data in the form of a string. It should always return a valid type. It is suggested that getContentType return "application/octet-stream" if the DataSource implementation can not determine the data type.

Returns:

the MIME Type

getName

public java.lang.String getName()

Return the name of this object where the name of the object is dependant on the nature of the underlying objects. DataSources encapsulating files may choose to return the filename of the object. (Typically this would be the last component of the filename, not an entire pathname.)

Returns:

the name of the object.